Six Feet Under The Stars
by Little Miss Dei
Summary: Sakura manages to get kidnapped by a rival who was assumed to be dead and one that they haven't seen in over five years- Deidara. But what will happen when the rivalry between them vanishes and something else replaces it instead?
1. Chapter 1

"Sakura-chan, watch out!" Naruto cried just as a swarm of tiny clay birds flew towards her. She barely had time to fling herself away as they exploded behind her. She looked up and gave a look of sheer hatred to their attacker- Deidara.

It had been over five years since their last encounter, when she had seen him blow himself up to try to kill Sasuke. She honestly had no idea how he had survived (maybe it had been a clone again), but that didn't matter. The point was that he had survived, and he should be dead. She truly wanted to kill him after remembering how he had lounged on Gaara's lifeless body so many years ago, but it was hard to do so when he was floating over fifty feet in the air on his clay bird, even though he was outnumbered four to one.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried. Even though Kakashi was no longer his teacher, Naruto still called him that, even though Kakashi tried to coax him out of the habit. "This would be a good time to start using your Mangekyou Sharingan!"

"Not yet, Naruto. The fight's barely begun. If it gets to that point I'll be glad to rip his arms off again," Kakashi responded. It was true. They hadn't been fighting long, and it seemed like Deidara was still warming up. Actually, it seemed like he was barely trying to fight them.

"I think this is a good time to introduce you to someone, yeah," Deidara called just as a man wearing an Akatsuki cloak and orange mask appeared among the trees.

"I'm Tobi!" the man called out in a ridiculous voice. "Which one should I go after, senpai?"

"The one in the middle. Kakashi, isn't it? The Copy Nin. Fancy seeing you hear, yeah," he sneered. Tobi crouched on the tree branch and sprang forward towards Kakashi. Kakashi barely had time to lift his hitai-ate and open his Sharingan eye. Sakura knew she could stand and watch, which would be pretty stupid, or she could turn and fight Deidara. With Kakashi fighting Tobi and having Sai as his backup, it was up to Sakura and Naruto to take down Deidara.

Naruto leapt to Sakura's side in a flash. "How are we supposed to take him down when he's so high up?" Sakura said.

"I don't know. I'm thinking of something," Naruto said.

"Well how did you beat him the last time?"

"That was different. We had Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan the last time, and we don't have that advantage right now. We obviously can't come to him, so he has to come to us.

"So we have to lure him in," Sakura confirmed.

"Exactly."

"Naruto, I think I have a plan. You use your Rasengan and I throw you up there so you can reach! We need a distraction, though…" Saukra said. Just then, a small clay bird appeared at their feet. It took them a moment to register what it was, but the second they realized it was one of Deidara's attacks, they retreated as the explosion took place. "You're a fast one, aren't you, jinchuuriki?" Deidara called after the impact had taken its toll. "Come out come out wherever you are, jinchuuriki. I don't have all day yeah," he cooed.

"That's why I'm putting an end to this right now!" Deidara turned to see Naruto flying towards him at full speed with Rasengan in one hand. The second it made contact with him, he melted into clay, and Naruto began to freefall. He grabbed a tree branch before he hit the ground and began to mutter to himself. "Fucking clone. Why can't we ever get the real one?" He then realized something was very wrong. Sakura wasn't anywhere in sight and her chakra was barely noticeable.

"Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out. No answer. "Sakura-chan!" He leapt through the trees and searched the area. No Sakura, _or_ Deidara.

"Would Sakura happen to be the name of this lovely pink haired kunoichi, yeah?" Naruto turned to the sound of Deidara's snarky voice. His knees went weak at what he was looking at. Deidara had made it back on his clay bird and this time an unconscious and bleeding Sakura had joined him. "Well you know how much I'd love to stay and chat but we've got a long trip ahead of us, yeah," nodding his head at Sakura. "See you later, jinchuuriki." And with that, Deidara lifted the bird higher into the sky and flew off with Sakura.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried. "Kakashi-sensei, you have to help me-" he cut his sentence short after turning and looking at the situation at hand. Kakashi and Sai were both slumping against a tree, barely conscious, and Tobi was gone. "Damn Akatsuki!" Naruto growled. He was on his own.

Naruto could still see the bird and prepared to pursue it when he heard Kakshi's voice from behind him. "Naruto…no…stay here…"

Naruto's blue eyes widened in anger. "Are you fucking serious? That Akatsuki shit just flew off with Sakura-chan and you want me to just sit here?"

"It's a trap," Kakashi murmered. "Sakura's just bait…trying to lead you to…Akatsuki."

"But what about Sakura-chan! She's in trouble! We can't leave her!"

"Sakura-chan's strong. She'll be fine…"

"But Kakashi-sensei-"

"Enough, Naruto. Right now help me and Sai get back to Konoha, and then we'll report the situation to the Hokage. She'll make the final decision."

Naruto buried his head in his hands and growled. After a moment we went to the nearest tree and punched it so hard it left a nice crater in it. As he walked over to Kakashi and Sai he glanced at the horizon one last time and saw Deidara's bird flying away and, after a few moments, disappear.

Deidara looked over his shoulder, expecting Naruto to be following him, but there was no sight of him. The only person there, unfortunately, was Tobi. "Senpai! Senpai! Wait up! Does Tobi get to ride on the bird like Sakura-chan, too?" he called out. Deidara rolled his eyes and cursed his bad luck for getting a partner like Tobi.

"No!" Deidara called out. "Just try to keep up, yeah!"

"But SENPAI!" Tobi whined. "It's so hot and Tobi is so tired! Please, senpai! Pleaaaaaaaaase!"

Deidara sighed and knew he would keep complaining unless he got to get on the bird too. After checking to see if anyone had followed them but found everything to be okay, Deidara started to land the bird.

"Yaaaay, thank you, senpai!" Tobi hopped up and down.

"Just get on the fucking bird," Deidara muttered, wondering if anyone else's life sucked as much as his. His gaze lingered towards Sakura, who was still unconscious. _Her_ life probably sucked at the moment, too. Getting knocked out and kidnapped _would_ probably ruin your day.

Deidara continued to stare at Sakura. How the hell was she so strong? Here she seemed weak and fragile. It had been hell to knock her out. He had to get away from Naruto first and then mask his chakra so Sakura wouldn't see him coming. Sneaking up on her was the easy part; she was so captivated by watching Naruto trying to kill him that she had let down her guard, which was odd for a skilled jounin of her level. Once he was close enough he pressed a kunai to her throat and tried to hit the point on her neck where he knew would cause her to pass out, but she was fast and escaped his grip easily and punched him hard in the shoulder. He was pretty sure something popped, and it still ached and he couldn't use his left arm to it's full potential (actually, he could barely lift it). Dismissing the pain, he had retreated and thrown a small flock of clay birds at her. She had managed to avoid those, but not the clay crickets behind her.  
The explosion caused Sakura to fall to the ground and she received many minor cuts all over the backside of her body. That was when he lunged for her neck but, apparently, he hit her a little harder than intended. He only needed her passed out for about two hours instead of ten.

Deidara winced and grabbed his shoulder in agony. _Bitch_, he thought. There was no way he could use the mouth on the hand on that arm to make explosions now! Sakura had definitely popped or broken something up there. How could a tiny cotton candy headed girl like her deliver such a painful blow? She looked so fragile, and, actually, the more Deidara studied her, he realized she was really quite pretty. Her features were soft and delicate and, dare he think it, cute. Not to mention the pink hair, which he still couldn't believe was natural. The last time he had seen her it had been chin length, but now it was a few inches past her shoulders. It looked better this way, he thought. It looked like..."Senpai? Senpai!"

"Huh, yeah?" Deidara said, coming back to reality.

"Senpai, were you just _ogling_ Sakura-chan?"

"WHAT?" Deidara cried, cursing himself for even looking in the kunoichi's direction. "Of course not!"

"Well you were staring at her for a really long time and you had this look in your eye-"

"I WASN'T FUCKING OGLING SAKURA, YEAH!" He was about to reach for his clay when Tobi stopped him.

"Okay, okay senpai! It was just a question. Tobi will stop now," he said, holding his hands in defeat.

"Whatever, yeah," Deidara said and turned to fly the bird. His shoulder screamed in pain but he just grunted and pushed the pain away. After hours of Tobi babbling on and on, they were mostly silent and it was getting dark. Deidara finally spoke. "We're about two days away from the rendezvous point with Kisame. That means we're gonna have to find a place to stay at for tonight and tomorrow. My bird can't go on anymore so we're gonna have to land now and there aren't any towns nearby so we just have to camp out, yeah."

The bird began to descend and Tobi had become excited by the idea of a "camp out" and starting talking about marshmallows and singing songs. Deidara sighed and landed the bird in a small clearing within a large forest. His fingers itched to grab his clay and throw it at Tobi but he resisted, knowing Leader would get pissed if he lost his second partner. "Get the girl off the bird, yeah," he said.

"Yes, senpai!" Tobi said and carried Sakura's body off the bird bridal style. It was hard to believe she was still unconscious. Exactly how hard did he hit her? He made the bird disappear and he walked through the forest to find a good spot to stay for the night.

There was an area that seemed acceptable for staying the night. The leaves of the trees formed a canopy and the lower branches provided some coverage from enemies. The grass was also fairly soft so it wouldn't be too hard to sleep on it. The area was big enough for the three of them, but no more than that. _This'll do_, Deidara thought, and began to make his way back when his shoulder began to ache again. Fucking hellion! Deidara thought. His shoulder was completely fucked up, and there was no telling when it would heal. _If_ it would heal. At this rate he wouldn't be able to make his art for who knows how long.

Wait a second, Deidara thought. The kunoichi was medical nin. Deidara smiled to himself. Maybe she wasn't just extra baggage after all. Hell, she could actually be pretty useful. Deidara smirked with pride and returned with his mind set on the medical nin of the Leaf.

When Sakura woke up, she noticed three things. One- there was an aching pain in her neck and her backside stung badly. Two- she was bound with extremely strong chakra ropes that would take a lot of chakra cut. Three- she was staring straight into an orange lollipop.

After noticing the lollipop, her head began to clear and she widened her eyes. That was _definitely _not a lollipop, she was _definitely _kidnapped by Akatsuki, and this time, there was only one.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" the lollipop said in a childish voice. "Well, it's actually night so you're going to have to sleep again soon, but good morning anyways!"

Sakura stared speechlessly at the childish man who was supposed to be in Akatsuki. Her mind was still a little hazy and she was groggy, but she managed to respond to him. "Let me go!" Sakura screamed, trying to resist the chakra ropes. "What do you even want from me?"

The lollipop fidgeted for a moment but then spoke. "Tobi does not want to keep you here, Sakura-chan. This is just orders. Tobi doesn't know why we're keeping you. That's a question for Deidara-senpai."

"Well then tell your _senpai _that if he thinks I'm just going to be his little rag doll and do whatever he wants me to and follow him like a puppy then you're just fucking stupid!" Sakura spat.

"Please don't get mad, Sakura-chan," Tobi begged. "I told Deidara-senpai that I'd keep you under control while he's gone."

"Again with your freaking senpai! Let me make one thing clear- I will not just sit here and wait for your lovely senpai to get back and play the happy family game with you Akatsuki _freaks!_" Sakura was raving mad now, and it was obvious she was going to blow and Tobi could sense it, but it was too late. Sakura created a chakra blade and cut the ropes in one swift motion. I'm free! She thought. But she couldn't just run. She had to take on the Akatsuki in the mask and try to take him out while the other one was away. It was the least she could do after getting herself captured.

Sakura reached for her weapons but realized they had all been taken away. She also felt like some of her chakra had been drained away. This was going to be much harder than she thought.

"Sakura-chan, Tobi does not want to fight a girl, but he will if he has to. Sorry, Sakura-chan," he said just before he charged at her and punched her straight in the gut. Sakura flew backwards, stunned by how powerful the punch was. She was at a major disadvantage here. But that didn't mean that she would give up. Just as Tobi was about to land another blow on her, she rolled to the side and landed a chakra infused kick straight in Tobi's gut. He flew back and landed in the middle of the clearing. He was shaky as he got back up, but the second he jumped towards her, Sakura's fist was back, ready to deliver another painful punch. At the last moment, Tobi ducked pulled out a kunai and cut a deep gash in her leg as he rolled to her other side. Sakura gasped and her knees buckled from underneath her.

Damn it! Sakura thought. Why was she being so careless? She needed to think her actions through more. As she got up turned she saw Tobi charging at her again, but this time she was thinking her plan through. Sakura readied another chakra infused punch in her right hand, but also her left. When Tobi came within range, she lifted her right hand to strike, but her left hand came up instead and the punch landed straight in his gut. Tobi flew backwards and slumped against a tree. That's how it's done, Sakura thought proudly.

Sakura limped as fast as she could to Tobi's shaking body. Every step she took with her left leg sent shots of pain up through her whole body. She grabbed Tobi's heaving and shaking form and pinned him against the crater she had made in the tree when she threw him in it. Just a moment before she was about to deliver a fatal blow to his temple, something grabbed her arm and a kunai was being pushed against her throat. Damn it.

Deidara.

Deidara ran back to the clearing as fast as he could after he heard the cries. He arrived just as he saw Sakura pin Tobi against a tree. Deidara smirked and grabbed Sakura's forearm and pulled out his kunai and held it to her throat. The arm that held the kunai was in so much pain that he had begun to sweat, but he had a feeling that would be over soon. "You're skilled kunoichi, I'll give you that," Deidara murmured in her ear, "but try to remember that you're dealing with Akatsuki, yeah."

"It's pretty hard to forget," Sakura growled. All of a sudden, she felt something shifting across her skin where Deidara's hand was. Oh, fuck. Not the mouth. Sakura squealed and tried to pull away.

Deidara chuckled. "My point is that did you really think you could escape this easily? That's fantasy, yeah. A kunoichi with your experience should know that fantasies don't exist for shinobi like us."

"Like _us_?"

"We're both shinobi, yeah. We're not so different."

"We are _nothing_ alike!"

"I'd take it easy kunoichi, yeah. You might make my finger slip and cut straight through your neck, yeah. It won't be an accident, though, if you don't do as I say right now. You got that, kunoichi?"

"Fuck you," Sakura hissed.

Deidara chuckled again. "I'll take that as a yes. Now let go of my partner, yeah." To emphasize his seriousness, he pushed the kunai harder against her throat, but not enough to draw blood. Sakura hesitated, then tightened her grip on Tobi and threw him to the ground. Deidara squeezed her arm tighter and she winced. "I think that could of gone better, yeah."

"Whatever."

In a swift motion, Deidara used Sakura's arm that he was holding to turn her around completely so she was pinned against the tree and they were face-to-face, kunai still pressed to her throat. One ocean blue eye staring into two jade eyes. Her eyes were filled with hate and disgust and her eyebrows were stitched into a V. "You're a medical nin, aren't you kunoichi?" Deidara said.

Sakura's face went from anger to confusion. "What's it to you?" she spat.

"Answer the question, yeah."

"Yes, _yes._ I'm a medical nin, okay?" Sakura said, her patience running out.

"I bet you're a good one too, yeah," Deidara said.

"When you're the Hokage's apprentice I'm pretty sure you're considered as _good. _ Why do you care so much anyways?"

Deidara rolled his head to his injured shoulder. "You banged me up pretty bad up there and I really don't think it's gonna heal very well on its own, so while you're our captive, you will serve as our healer, yeah. You might want to take the offer, kunoichi. It's pretty much the only choice you have, yeah."

"Why would I ever heal _your _arm? There's a reason why I injured it in the first place!"

"Maybe because your life depends on it," Deidara said, moving the kunai in a cutting motion across her throat, grazing the skin ever so lightly.

Sakura looked into his eyes for what seemed like years until she finally sighed in defeat. "Fine. Whatever. I'll be your healer."

Deidara smiled. "Good choice, kunoichi. So you-"

"_Sakura!_ My name is fucking Sakura! If I'm gonna be your healer at least call me by my name! It's not "kunoichi" for gods' sake!"

Deidara was taken back by her sudden explosion. To be honest, he didn't even think of calling her by her name. She was a captive, for gods' sake, not their VIP guest. But if that was her price for being their healer, then so be it. "Okay then, _Sakura._" He rolled the R in her name and played with it on his tongue. "We have a deal then, yeah. You be our healer, and we won't hurt you _and _I'll call you Sakura. But if you try to escape the consequences are going to be bad, kunoi- I mean, Sakura. And I wouldn't even think of escaping once we meet up with Kisame. That's like asking for death, yeah."

"Fine. You can let me go now," Sakura said. Deidara complied and released his grip on her. She rubbed the spot on her arm where he had grabbed her. She looked around absentmindedly and began sit down when Deidara cleared his throat. She looked up and saw him pointing to his shoulder. "Oh! Right. _That_," she said in a monotonous voice. "Well then, you're going to have to take off your cloak and whatever shirt you're wearing underneath."

Deidara managed to take off his cloak without difficulty, but taking off the shirt was the hard part for him. He tried to take off his mesh shirt and dark undershirt but trying to do so with one hand was very unfruitful. Finally, Deidara sighed and looked at Sakura. "A little help here, yeah?" She rolled her eyes and helped him out of the shirts. The mesh shirt was easy to take off. It was the undershirt that was giving them problems.

"We obviously can't pull it over your head so I'm just going to cut it," Sakura said. She instinctively reached for her weapons pouch before realizing that it wasn't there. When she turned back around, Deidara was playing with a kunai in one hand. He was pretending to not even notice her staring at him, whistling and staring at the kunai spinning in his hand. After a few seconds later, he turned his attention to her. "Looking for this, yeah?" he said.

Sakura stared at him blankly. "Um, _yeah._ I can't exactly cut through your shirt without it."

"Hmm, I don't think I fully trust you yet being so close to me with a kunai in hand. You're gonna need to work up to that level."

"Fine, then. You leave me no choice." Before Deidara could even think of what she was going to, Sakura grabbed the fabric of Deidara's shirt and tore it off his body.

"Damn, pinkie. I liked that shirt," Deidara said. Sakura rolled her eyes and was about to examine his shoulder when she noticed how well built he was. She knew he wasn't a skinny tiny guy or anything (he'd probably be a really bad shinobi if he was) but she didn't expect his body to be this toned. She noticed his muscles flex every time he moved his arms and that the large seal that covered the mouth on his chest was still there. Her eyes roamed a little lower and saw, to her shock, that he actually had an eight-pack. Well _that _was unexpected.

"See something you like, yeah?" Deidara smirked. Sakura blushed furiously, scolding herself for staring so long. "Just sit down against the tree," Sakura mumbled. Deidara did as he said and sat down. Sakura closed her eyes and entered her medic nin mode. She focused her chakra into her hands and examined the wound. After a minute of examining, she folded her hands in her lap and said, "You didn't make it seem like it was so bad. The shoulder's been completely dislocated, there's a crack in your shoulder blade, and the upper part of the bone in your bicep has been completely shattered."

"Wow, thanks so much, yeah," Deidara said.

"Well did you expect me to just leave with you peacefully?" Sakura snapped.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't know you were so strong, yeah."

"Mmmm," Sakura mumbled. "Even with two healing sessions a day, you won't be able to fully recover for about a week. So don't try to use this arm or the injuries will just get worse."

"Yes, ma'am," Deidara mocked.

Sakura rolled her eyes and began the healing session. She focused chakra to her hands once more and the familiar mint green glow emitted from them. She placed her hands over Deidara's shoulder and began mending the damages. Deidara let out a sigh so big it was as if he had been relieved from carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He laid his head back against the tree and closed his eyes, obviously feeling more relaxed. She continued to do her work in silence and neither of them seemed to mind.

After the healing session was over, Sakura let out a huge sigh and stood up. That's all I can do right now. My chakra's getting low so I can't do anything until the morning. Just don't use that arm or sleep on it, okay?"

Deidara nodded and grabbed his mesh shirt and Akatsuki cloak. "It doesn't hurt as much now, yeah," he said, rubbing his arm. "I can live with it." Deidara had sent Tobi off to make a fire at the smaller clearing where they were staying for the night, and he suspected it was probably done by now. He grabbed Sakura's arm and led her through the woods to their campsite. Tobi was sitting there, staring absently into the flames. When Deidara and Sakura entered, he seemed to suddenly get in a much better mood.

"Deidara-senpia!" Tobi exclaimed. "Tobi made the fire just like you asked!"

"That's great, Tobi, yeah," Deidara mumbled. "I think we should all go to sleep now. We've got a whole day's worth of travel tomorrow. We need to be able to make the long trip, yeah."

"Of course, senpai!" Tobi began to lay down and make himself comfortable in the grass. Deidara did the same but was cautious not to land on his left shoulder. Sakura slowly lowered herself onto the earth and laid down facing the fire. Were they even going to bother guarding her? By the sounds of his snoring, Tobi was already asleep and Deidara would be soon, too. This could be her chance to escape! She just had to stay awake for a few more hours…

After about two hours of pretending to be asleep, Sakura was sure that both Deidara and Tobi were both sleeping soundly. This was a perfect opportunity to run away. She obviously couldn't take two Akatsuki by herself, so going back to Konoha would be the next best option.

As quietly as she could, Sakura got up and stood on the grass. Just as she was about to take a few more steps before darting off into the darkness, she heard a voice mumble, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, yeah."

Deidara. Again.

Sakura stood in the same position, in between taking steps, arms still in mid-air. How could he have heard her get up? She had barely made a sound! There was no way she could've woken him. Unless…unless he hadn't even been asleep in the first place.

Of course! How could she be so stupid? Two S-class missing nin in Akatsuki wouldn't just doze off without any methods of retraining a captive. Why was she being so stupid on this mission? She hadn't thought anything through so far and nothing had proved fruitful. She then heard Deidara's voice again, and that interrupted her thoughts. "I've placed little clay figurines with chakra seals all around this area. If they catch you, I'll know and I won't hesitate to detonate them, yeah."

Sakura hung her head in defeat and lay back down in the grass. "Don't worry so much kunoi- I mean, Sakura. You just stay with us a little longer, then we'll let you go and we won't hurt you, yeah."

Sakura grunted. The truth was that she wasn't worried about what they were planning to do to her. She was worried about what they were planning on doing to Naruto.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for those who subscribed to my story and favorited me! It means so much that I have already this number of fans in one week!

J-Pop Princess originally created the setting of Fuzen Machi (meaning City of Sin). You'll see it mentioned in this chapter.

Thanks for reading. Here's chapter two :)

PS- I decided to cut back on using honorifics in my story. So I won't be using them as often as I did in the first chapter.

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"But Granny Tsunade!" Naruto whined.

"Enough, Naruto! I've already told you that I _will _send a search party after Sakura, but I can't let you go with them!" Tsunade argued.

"But I'm her friend and I just can't sit at home and wait for news about her!"

"You're not the only person who cares for Sakura, Naruto! Sakura was like a daughter to me! Do you think I'm happy about just sitting here and waiting for her? Do you think I enjoy thinking about what Akatsuki could be doing to her right now?" Tsunade snapped. Naruto recoiled, and she sighed, obviously being too hard on him. "I'm sorry about that. But Naruto, the Akatsuki is more driven than ever to capture you now. I spoke with Kakashi in the hospital today. He clarified for me that the whole attack wasn't even to capture you. From the beginning, their plan was to capture Sakura."

"_What? _But why would they do that when I'm right there?"

"_Because _Naruto, the Akatsuki have gone up against you and your team before. They know you are extremely powerful and capturing you with the rest of your team to back you up is much too difficult. Sakura, on the other hand, is an easier target. If they managed to capture her, they would know that you would come after her and try to find her. And the second you do, Akatsuki will be there waiting, completely prepared to attack, and you would be hopeless."

"Then we can assemble a bigger team to fight Akatsuki!"

"Naruto, don't make this harder than it has to be."

Naruto was about to say something, but then looked down and lowered his voice. "Granny Tsunade, _please. _I lost the chance to save one friend. Don't make me lose the chance to save another."

Tsunade stared at Naruto for a long time. She sighed and buried her head in her hands. He _did _have a point. If they assembled a large, powerful team they certainly could get Sakura back and possibly wipe out Akatsuki if not kill a few. The mission also was very personal to him. He had already lost Sasuke. Sakura was all he had left, and now her lifeline was dwindling with each second they wasted.

Sakura.

Tsunade knew that she was a strong woman now, but she was still being put up against Akatsuki, and that definitely narrowed her chances of escaping. She wanted her back at the hospital, back at Konoha, back with _her_, where she would be safe. And if sending Naruto out there was the price for it, then maybe it was worth a shot.

Tsunade flattened her palms against the desk and looked up at Naruto with somber eyes. "Alright. You can go. We are sending Sai, Kakashi, Yamato, Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, and Choji with you." Naruto didn't cheer like he used to as a child. He just quirked the ends of his lips up into a slight smile.

"But what about Ino, Tenten, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino?" Naruto asked.

"Ino is on a mission in Suna, Tenten is recovering from injuries from a previous mission, and the others are on a mission in Kiri. They won't be back for a few more days and I want you to leave tomorrow."

"_Tomorrow?_" Naruto exclaimed. "Why not today? Every second we waste Akatsuki gets further away with Sakura!"

"Sai and Kakashi need some time to recover. They'll be fine by tomorrow morning, but they need rest. Even if I heal them for hours on end, they won't be able to just get up and go," Tsunade scolded. "_And _it's night. How do you expect to travel now? That would mean you wouldn't sleep for a whole day and your team would fall behind."

Naruto grumbled and moped for a moment but then nodded his head in agreement. "Then it's settled," Tsunade said. "You will leave at dawn to look for Sakura and Akatsuki. Kakashi will use his ninken to track Sakura. You might need this." She pulled out a long red ribbon from her desk. "It's Sakura's. You'll be able to track her with this so give this to Kakashi on your way out." Naruto nodded and took the silky ribbon from her hands.

"Thank you, Granny Tsunade. For everything," Naruto said and turned to leave. Just as he was halfway out the door, Tsunade called, "Naruto!" Naruto turned and asked, "What's wrong, Granny Tsunade?"

Tsunade's fingers were laced together and resting on her chin. "Bring Sakura home," she said in a voice that was barely audible.

Naruto walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll be back soon and Sakura will be with us." Tsunade looked up into Naruto's face and saw him giving her one of his trademark smiles. She nodded slowly.

This time when Naruto walked out the door, she didn't stop him. She just kept staring straight ahead and whispered to herself, "Thank you. Naruto."

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Sakura didn't get much sleep that night. She just faded in and out of consciousness. When she woke up for good, she saw that her ankles were tied together by chakra ropes. That seemed unnecessary considering that she wasn't stupid enough to try to break Deidara's chakra barrier. She sat up and began to form a chakra blade to cut the ropes when they suddenly disappeared. She looked around and Tobi was still sleeping and Deidara staring at her. She lifted an eyebrow and gave him a puzzled expression. "I only needed them when you were asleep, yeah. Now that you're awake there's no point in having them."

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Sakura asked. "It's not like I'm going anywhere in my sleep."

"I'd beg to differ, yeah," Deidara said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Deidara sighed. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know _what?_" she exclaimed, her patience running short.

Deidara chuckled and then said something very unexpected. "You sleepwalk."

Sakura was stunned. Inner Sakura fainted of embarrassment. She _sleepwalked?_ Never in her life had she sleepwalked! Well, not that she can recall, which really wasn't saying much since she would've been asleep during the incidents…

"I woke up a few hours ago because I heard something and saw you stumbling around like a drunk, yeah," Deidara said. "I kept calling your name and you wouldn't respond so I got up and followed you. Since you still kept stumbling around I knew something was up, yeah, so I look at your face and your eyes are _shut _so I have to carry you back to camp and bind your legs so you don't get up again." He got up and stretched his arms. "You're quite the hellion, you know that kunoichi?"

"It's Sakura," she grumbled.

"Right. Sakura. The name suits you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your hair. It's pink like sakura blossoms."

"I get that a lot."

"Mm," Deidara mumbled and tossed her a small pouch the size of her palm. She gave him another questioning look. "Berries. I found them around here. They're not poisonous so you don't need to freak out."

Sakura rolled her eyes and opened the pouch. She looked them over just to be sure, but Deidara was telling the truth. They weren't poisonous. There weren't a whole lot of berries in there but it was better than nothing. She popped each one in her mouth individually and chewed slowly.

After she finished, she motioned for Deidara to take off his cloak so she could begin another healing session. He did so and then she helped him out of the mesh shirt. After she told him to sit down, she focused chakra into her hands and the familiar green glow began to emit from them. Sakura began her healing session and she felt him relax almost immediately. Once the session was finished, Deidara stood up and she helped him back into the mesh shirt, becoming slightly nervous by how close they were. She could feel his eyes on her and felt the warmth radiating from his skin. He managed to put to cloak on by himself. Deidara nodded in thanks to her and turned away and began lightly kick a snoring Tobi. "Tobi, wake up, yeah." He began to absently swat at Deidara's foot. "Five more minutes, senpai…" he mumbled.

Deidara rolled his eyes and took some clay from his pouch. He put it in his hand mouth and quickly molded it into a tiny bird. He dropped it next to Tobi and detonated it. Tobi yelped and jumped up. The bomb hadn't done any damage, but it certainly did its job in waking Tobi up. Deidara smirked. "Ready to go, Tobi?"

Tobi nodded quickly. "Yes, senpai, but where did Sakura-chan get those berries? Tobi wants berries, too!"

"That's all I found, yeah," Deidara said curtly. "Let's go." He took another wad of clay and began to mold it with his hand mouth. A few moments later, a small bird appeared in his hand and he placed it on the ground. The bird suddenly grew to a massive size, big enough for all of them to sit on. Sakura sat up and walked over to the bird. As she passed Tobi, she gave him the pouch Deidara had given her; there were a few berries left. Tobi began to clap his hands. "Thank you, Sakura-chan!" His reaction could have been compared to that of a little boy in a candy store. Sakura gave him a small smile and hopped up on the bird where Deidara was waiting.

"Well aren't you a kind soul, yeah?" Deidara scoffed. She rolled her eyes at him and sat down. He walked over to her and grabbed her wrists and, before she even knew what was happening, put them behind her back and tied them with chakra ropes.

"What the hell was that for?" Sakura yelled. She struggled against the ropes and tried to create a chakra blade strong enough to cut them, but he had also drained some of her chakra and her blade wasn't strong enough. Inner Sakura cursed.

Deidara shrugged. "It's kind of like standard protocol, yeah. I don't know if you're going to stay put or run away. I can't just give you all the free space you want. That's not really the idea of being a captive, yeah."

"Well I don't exactly have place to go when I'm fifty feet in the air on a goddamn bird!"

Deidara froze. He lowered himself until he was only inches away from Sakura's face. She held her breath. "Two things, kunoichi. And yeah, I'm going to call you kunoichi," he said softly yet sharply. Sakura glowered at him but didn't say anything. "First, if you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly fifty feet in the air, yeah. We're still on the ground. And second, don't you _ever _insult my art like that again or else you might not live to see your precious Konoha ever again." Before Sakura could respond, he turned around and went back to the front of the bird, leaving behind a very stunned and confused Sakura.

Inner Sakura felt like bitch-slapping him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Just as Tobi was about to board the bird, his and Deidara's rings began to faintly glow. Deidara groaned. "What does _he _want? If it's an extraction I'm going to kill him." Tobi sat down on the ground and Deidara moved towards Sakura again. He grabbed one of her ankles and tried to grab the other, but she had apparently grown a backbone in the last minute and resisted his grip. Having only one arm to use wasn't helping that much either. Sakura thrashed and kicked at him. She landed a blow right in his cheek. He stumbled back and grabbed his jaw. "What the _hell?_" he spat.

"What do you mean, 'what the hell'? You're the one that just grabs at me like I'm a doll!" Sakura shouted.

"Well maybe if you were a little more cooperative we wouldn't be having so many problems, yeah!"

"Cooperative? _Cooperative?_ You kidnap me and take me away to who knows where and you want me to be _cooperative?"_

"It would help a hell of a lot, yeah!"

"Well _excuse me_ if I forget my manners around the Akatsuki! Why were you even grabbing my ankles?"

"Look, I don't have much time, yeah. I just need to bind your legs for a little while. When we're up in the air, I'll take them off. But Leader is waiting for me right now and he's probably getting really impatient so yeah, I really would like it if you were more cooperative," Deidara said. His expression was dead serious. Sakura stared at him long and hard.

"I don't give a shit about your stupid leader," she finally said.

Deidara sighed and put his right and in one of his clay pouches. "You forced me to do this, kunoichi, yeah." His hand produced a small clay bird. It flew out of his hand and landed right on her forehead.

"Are you insane?" Sakura screamed. She shook her head as violently as possible, but the bird remained in place. "Get this off me!"

"If you won't let me bind your legs, I'll detonate it, yeah."

Sakura glared at him. "Go ahead. I dare you." Deidara shrugged and slowly brought his hand up to his lips. Just before he could say _katsu_, Sakura cried "No!" He smirked and walked towards her. He grabbed her ankles and successfully bound them with chakra ropes.

Sakura closed her eyes in defeat. Inner Sakura was yelling at her for being such a pushover. When she opened her eyes, she was startled to see that Deidara was only an inch or two away from her face. He was looking into her eyes so intensely she thought she would melt under his gaze. She held her breath. He slowly lifted his right hand and brought it closer and closer to her face. His fingers lingered over her face for a second until they plucked the clay bird off her forehead. He gave her a smirk and stayed where he was for a moment until he stood up and jumped off the bird and joined Tobi, who looked like he was meditating.

"Look, this won't take long, yeah," Deidara said as he sat down. "Unless it's an extraction. Then we'll be sitting here for days, yeah." Sakura's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, but he only shrugged and shot her another smirk before he closed his eyes.

Once Deidara closed his eyes, he saw Leader's real form standing in front of him back at Akatsuki headquarters. Tobi's holographic form was already there. Leader looked at Deidara. "Nice of you to join us," he said in a snarky tone.

Deidara shrugged and glowered at him. "The hostage was giving me problems, yeah."

"Giving _you _problems? That's a first."

"It's a bit harder to control her with only one arm, yeah."

"Hmph. Well we need to discuss something. You're going to have to finish this mission alone. You'll still meet up with Kisame at the rendezvous point, but Tobi can't accompany you on this mission anymore."

Deidara looked from Leader to Tobi. "Why, yeah?"

"Tobi and I need to talk face to face about certain things relating to his membership in Akatsuki. It really can't wait considering that the end of this mission is unknown and we need to discuss things as soon as possible," said Leader.

Deidara shrugged. "Whatever. I can handle this on my own, yeah."

"That's good to hear. You should go now. Tobi needs to get back here and your hostage is waiting on you," he said, voice tinted with a hint of sarcasm.

Deidara gave a small grunt and shut his eyes. Within a few moments, he was back in his real body. He rolled his neck and stretched out his back, being wary of his injured shoulder. Tobi returned a few moments later. Deidara looked at him and said, "Well you should go now, yeah. Leader's gonna be waiting for you."

"Yes, senpai! It's funny because we are both going to Ame yet in two different parts!" Deidara simply nodded in return.

"_Ame? _What the hell is in _Ame?_" Deidara groaned when he heard Sakura's screeching voice.

"Fuzen Machi is what's in Ame. It's our rendezvous point with Kisame."

Sakura's eyes widened. "We have to meet up with the FISH GUY?"

Deidara rolled his head back and groaned. "For once, could you please shut _up?_"

Sakura opened her mouth to say something snarky, but she realized that she had nothing to say, so she closed her mouth and put her head down. Inner Sakura was yelling at her for not being able to think of a comeback.

"Tobi has to go now, Deidara-senpai. Goodbye, senpai! Goodbye, Sakura-chan!" Tobi yelled. Before Sakura could even open her mouth, he bounded off into the trees and could no longer be seen.

Deidara was still on the ground. He rubbed his eyes and ran his good hand through his hair. "Ahem," he heard from behind him. He turned to see Sakura still sitting on the bird, her jade eyes demanding and impatient.

"What?" Deidara said.

"The chakra ropes. You said you'd undo them after you're done with…whatever just happened."

"Oh. Right, yeah," he said and made his way on top of the bird. He faced her and, after a moment, the chakra ropes faded away. The second they faded, he turned and launched the bird high up into the sky. Sakura yelped and clung to the bird. She kept her eyes shut for a while, but after a while, she slowly cracked them open and peaked at the world below. She gasped at what she saw.

Sakura watched as the trees beneath them get smaller and smaller. She couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful everything looked from up there. The luscious trees, running streams, stone structures that had worn away over time. It all seemed so perfectly planned and put together. And the clouds seemed so much…_puffier _up close. Even though she truly wanted to hate every moment spent with Akatsuki, she felt so happy to be on that bird for those fleeting moments. She looked over at Deidara, whose back was turned to her and was still staring straight ahead. She couldn't help but think how lucky he was to be able see the world like this whenever he wanted. But then again, he probably had other things to do besides marveling at the beauty of nature from an aerial perspective.

Sakura adjusted her position on the bird so sitting up cross-legged. She sighed at how beautiful Fire Country was and, for a second, forgot all about the predicament she was in. "It's nice, yeah." Sakura snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Deidara's voice. She said nothing. His back was still to her but he kept talking. "It's like art, yeah. The fleeting moments in nature. Nothing remains the same in nature. Things always change, yeah. It looks different time to time. It's not there forever. One day, it'll come to its big end. It'll make its grand finale, yeah." Sakura continued to stare. That was the longest he had ever talked to her. She didn't even know how he had seen her admiring the landscape. He turned so she could see half of his face. He smirked at her awestruck expression. He turned back around and kept speaking. "Don't look so surprised, kunoichi. Even people like me can appreciate beauty, yeah."

"Why do you say that?" Sakura suddenly asked.

Deidara turned back around. He fully faced her this time, his forelock flying back, exposing his whole face. He raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"You say 'yeah' after your sentences."

He shrugged. "It's like a dialect from where I'm from. Everybody there talks like that, yeah."

Sakura nodded. "You're from Iwa." Deidara raised his eyebrow again. "It's on your forehead protector. And I've read about you in the Bingo Book."

"So you've read about me, yeah?" Deidara smirked.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I didn't just read about _you_. It's my job to read about Akatsuki. Learn as much about them as possible."

"Right. So you can take us down, yeah."

"Exactly."

"Hmph," Deidara said. "Well good luck." He turned back around and didn't face her, his long blonde hair flying in the wind.

They didn't speak for hours. Deidara kept flying the bird, and Sakura kept staring at the world below. They had begun to fly over small towns in the past hour. Sakura determined that they were getting close to the western border of Fire Country. They were far from Konoha. The bird suddenly began to descend and Sakura yelped and attempted to hang on to the bird. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm hungry, yeah," he replied.

Sakura stared at him incredulously as he landed the bird into the forest. Once they landed, Deidara made the bird disappear in a _poof _then turned and crouched down in front of Sakura. "Look, we're gonna have to do some role playing here, yeah. This isn't a shinobi village so they won't recognize you here. And if your friends come to look for you, they're gonna ask if they someone wearing my cloak, so I'm gonna have to take that off. Plus our forehead protectors. We need to look as normal as possible, yeah." Sakura snorted. The more distinctive she looked, the better. It would be easier for whoever was looking for her to find her.

Deidara unbuckled his Akatsuki cloak and took it off and hid it in a bush, leaving his mesh shirt as his only top, his muscles showing in all their glory. Sakura felt blood rush to her cheeks and lowered her head. He took off his forehead protector and all his weapon and clay pouches and tossed them in the same bush. He walked over to Sakura, who was sitting on the ground, hands still tied behind her back. He crouched in front of her and laced his good hand in her hair. At first, Sakura was outraged by this, but then realized he was only removing her forehead protector. However, she was still uncomfortable by how close he was to her. She averted her eyes and tried to focus on a little bug making its way across the grassy terrain. Every time his fingers made contact with her skin, she tensed a little and felt her heart beat a little faster. After a moment, he managed to unknot the forehead protector and it fell from her hair. She felt his fingers gently brush against the back of her neck as he withdrew his hand with her forehead protector. She jumped a little and straightened up. "Easy kunoichi," he said, still crouched in front of her.

"It's Sakura," she mumbled, eyes still focused on the ground.

"Right. About that, yeah," he said. "It's time for a name change. Just in case anyone asks for one. We're also gonna have to play the roles of husband and wife-"

"_What?_ Are you serious?" Sakura was outraged that she even had to _pretend _to be married to him. However, Inner Sakura was taking it very well. That worried her.

"Are you honestly saying that you never had a mission where you had to pretend to be married to your partner, yeah?"

"That's different! I'd actually be on a mission where I have a goal to reach instead of being a hostage! And never on those missions was my fake husband a member of Akatsuki!"

Deidara glared at Sakura, and she glared back. "Look, I'm not enjoying this any more than you are, yeah. It's the best way to lie low, though. So while we are out there, you and I will pretend to be any normal couple living in a normal town. But if you act out and try to show the people who we really are and your situation-" he paused and pulled out a kunai from under the waistband of pants and twirled it around his finger "-the consequences won't be pretty. I'm sorry I can't be your precious Sasuke, yeah."

Sakura flinched at the mention of Sasuke's name, but she kept glaring at Deidara. He was always one step ahead of her! The Bingo Book was pretty spot-on when it had said he was extremely clever and cunning. She kept glaring until she said, "Fine."

He stopped spinning the kunai and smirked at her. "Good. Then we have an understanding, yeah." He grabbed on of her arms and pulled her up with him. "When we start getting to a more public place I'll undo the ropes. And we're just eating. We're leaving right after, yeah."

"Whatever," she said sharply.

Deidara pulled her and they began to walk to the town together. "We have to create alibis. The name I use for missions like this is Ichiro Osaka, yeah. Don't use the name you use normally on missions."

"Why not? If you can, why can't I?"

"Because I think people are more likely to remember a pink haired girl, yeah."

"Fine," Sakura pouted. She thought for a moment. "I like the name Hana."

Something dark flashed through Deidara's eyes, but vanished. "Use a different name, yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like that name, yeah!"

"That's a terrible excuse."

"Don't use that name, yeah."

"Too bad."

"Hey! Look here-"

"No! _You _look here mister! You've knocked me out, kidnapped me, taken me away to some stupid place, and keep me as your hostage! You gave me the freedom to name myself and my name is going to be Hana!"

"No, it's not!"

"Tell me exactly _why _my name can't be Hana. If you give me the true reason why, I'll change it."

Deidara hesitated. He opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it and shook his head. "Fine. Keep the name, yeah."

Sakura smiled proudly and walked with a little more skip in her step as they walked towards the town. Inner Sakura high-fived her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once people had begun to appear on the road in front of them, Deidara released Sakura from the bindings of the chakra ropes. He adjusted his grip on her arm and looped it with his. Sakura was about to protest, but he tightened his grip and said, "It's just to convince people, yeah. Calm down."

Sakura nodded. After a few more silent moments of walking, they approached a large archway. The sign at the top said the town's name was Shiro. They walked under the arch and into the town.

It was a small old-fashioned town. The buildings were slightly worn and the streets weren't paved. Lanterns lit the streets and it didn't look like they used much modern technology. Children ran around in the streets with their parents a few steps behind them. Overall, it seemed like a nice place to live.

Deidara tugged on her arm and she picked her pace, realizing that she had slowed down. They walked down the street until he stopped in front of a small restaurant called "Niraku." It wasn't very upscale but it wasn't shabby. "This looks okay, yeah," he said. The sign in the front said it was self-seat so they sat down at the nearest table. Deidara looked at Sakura, who seemed to be in her own world. She remained silent, staring off into the distance for quite some time until she finally spoke. "We have a place like this back in Konoha. It's called Ichiraku, but they only serve ramen. But the names are similar. Ichiraku means 'first comfort' and Niraku means 'second comfort.' It's odd because right now, there's nothing comforting about being here."

"Hello!" Both Deidara and Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the perky waitress standing in front of them. Sakura's jaw almost dropped. The girl looked like she belonged on a runway. She was tall, had big blue eyes, and long purple hair that reached her hips. She wore a tiny skirt with a waitress's apron over it and a tight tank top that barely covered her big boobs. Her blue eyes flew to Deidara, and she smiled approvingly. He simply gave her a small nod. "My name's Manami. Can I get you anything?" Sakura noted that she was only speaking to Deidara. He looked at Sakura.

"We need some time to look over the menu, yeah," he said.

"Alright! I'll be back later," Manami said. She looked at Deidara one last time before she turned and walked away, swinging her hips side to side. He lazily reached for one of the menus on the table and began to flip through it. Sakura did the same. They sat in silence and Sakura slowly tapped her fingers against the old table.

Deidara sighed. "To be honest, I don't see why you're so worried about this situation, yeah. You _know _that people coming for you and that you're going to go home."

Sakura looked at him. "I'm not worried about myself. I know I'm going home after this and my friends are coming for me. I'm worried about-"

"The jinchuuriki," he finished.

"He has a name! His name is Naruto and he's the one I'm worried about!" She lowered her head and her voice began to tremble a little. "You're going to kill him."

Deidara slowly exhaled and closed the menu. "Saku-," he said, but catching himself after remembering he had to use her code name. "_Hana. _I don't enjoy going after bijuu, yeah. It's just what I'm told to do. If I don't, I die. It's as simple as that, yeah."

"It doesn't sound simple," she mumbled.

"It's more simple than you think, yeah. But I couldn't blame you because you're so naïve."

Sakura glared at him. "Naïve?"

Deidara shrugged. "Yeah, you're naïve. It's like you've built a wall around yourself and you won't accept anything but your own beliefs, whether they're right or wrong, yeah."

She glared at him even harder. "You know _nothing _about me."

"I beg to differ, yeah." Deidara leaned in towards her. "I know a lot more about you thank you think, _Hana._"

"Ahem." Deidara and Sakura turned when they heard Manami's voice. "So what will we be ordering today?" She said, batting her eyelashes at Deidara.

"I'll have the bakudan, yeah," he said, not lifting his head.

"That's an _awesome _choice," she gushed, but Deidara simply grunted back. Manami pursed her lips, but said nothing more to him. She turned to Sakura.

"How about you?" She said in a much flatter voice.

"Um, I'll just have the sashimi," she muttered.

Manami nodded. "I'll be back with your dishes shortly." This time, she winked at Deidara before she left, but he didn't seem to notice.

Sakura cleared her throat. "That waitress is all over you," she stated.

Deidara snapped his head up and smirked at her. "I _do _have that affect on the ladies, yeah."

She rolled her eyes. "You're so full of it."

"What? It's true, yeah. I saw a few girls in the street checking me out, too."

"Maybe it's because of the fact that you're barely wearing a shirt and you have a very feminine hairstyle," she retorted.

He raised his eyebrows in confusion. "I haven't exactly seen a girl with this hairstyle anywhere, yeah."

"My friend Ino has the almost _exact _same hairstyle as you. The bangs over the eye, the ponytail, she's even blonde. It's like you two were twins separated at birth."

"Is your friend Ino pretty? Because if she is I think you're complimenting me, yeah," he smirked.

Sakura fidgeted for a moment. Of course Ino was pretty. In the past few years, she had become drop dead gorgeous. So _was _she complimenting Deidara? She didn't even know herself. "Um, she's alright."

"I think she's prettier than you say. You're not a good liar, yeah," he chuckled.

Just before Sakura could say something back, Manami came back with their food. "Alright! I have the bakudan for…I'm sorry I didn't catch your name," she said to Deidara.

He looked her straight in the eye for the first time. "Ichiro."

She smiled at him. "Here's you bakudan, Ichiro." She handed him his plate and then turned to Sakura. "Here's your Sashimi," she said curtly. Manami looked back at Deidara. "Enjoy!" She shot him another brilliant smile before she bounced away.

Sakura snorted. "She's pretty much flinging herself at you."

"I'm used to it, yeah," he said.

She raised her eyebrow but didn't say anything more. She slowly picked at her sashimi. It wasn't the best she had, but it wasn't the worst. She snuck a peak at Deidara, who was also picking at his food. At that moment he looked up at her. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she looked back at her food. "It's no use doing that, yeah. I knew you were looking at me from the second you turned your head up."

Sakura felt more blood rush to her cheeks. 'I was just…um…"

"Seeing if I was hating the food as much as you, yeah?" He finished.

She finally looked up from her food. For the first time since she had been taken hostage, she gave a small laugh. It wasn't much of a laugh, but it was still there. "It's not that bad," she replied.

"Not that bad, yeah? This is an insult to the bakudan I make," he said.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "You cook?"

Deidara shrugged and then shot her one of his trademark smirks. "If I feel like it, yeah." Sakura stared at him for a while then looked back down at her food. "Eat, yeah," he told her. "You won't be eating for a while after this."

She nodded slowly and picked at her food again. He did the same. They sat and ate in silence. After a few minutes, they had finished their food and Deidara put a few bills on the table. "That should cover it, yeah. Come on, let's go. We've wasted enough time already. Plus I really don't want to hear another word from Manami, yeah."

They both stood up and walked out of the restaurant. The second they left, Deidara looped his arm through Sakura's again and held onto it rather roughly. They walked back to where they had left their stuff. The second they made it to the clearing, Deidara put her arms behind her back and bound them with chakra ropes again. Sakura groaned. "Sorry kunoichi, yeah. I told you. It's like standard protocol."

"How am I supposed to put my forehead protector back on?" she whined.

Deidara grabbed her forehead protector from the bushes. "I'll give you a hand, yeah." In a flash, he was behind her. He gently placed the forehead protector in her hair and slowly tied it. Sakura's heart pounded from his proximity. Inner Sakura was hyperventilating. When he was done, he simply walked away and retrieved his things. Once his clay pouches were fastened onto his belt again, he put some clay in one of his hand mouths and it began to chew. Sakura flinched at the sight but remained silent. Deidara put his Akatsuki cloak and forehead protector back on. He took the clay from his hand and within moments the result was a giant clay bird. Sakura hopped on (which was very difficult since she couldn't use her arms) and Deidara went to the front of the bird.

Within seconds, they were airborne, and were looking at the world below them shrink. They didn't say a word to each other. Sakura admired the view again and Deidara kept flying the bird. And for a moment, she could forget about any impending doom that was to come.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kakashi-sensei, how far do you think Sakura is?" Naruto asked. They had left Konoha with their assigned team hours ago, but they were still behind since Akatsuki had managed to travel an extra day while they set up their team.

"She's far Naruto. That's for sure. But we _will _find her. We have Pakkun tracking her scent down in front of us, which will give us a trail to follow. Don't worry. They can't run forever," Kakashi responded. Naruto was bothered by how calm Kakashi was being. This was _Sakura _for gods' sake. She had been with them for almost ten years, always by their side, whether it was kicking or saving their asses. She had been there when they had first tried to take the bells from Kakashi, when Sasuke left, when they survived through the Akatsuki mess, when the new about Sasuke came. She had been there for everything and now she was gone. She at least deserved some worry from her teammates and former sensei.

"Don't worry, Naruto!" Lee shouted from behind Naruto. "We will find Sakura!" Normally Naruto would be annoyed to hear his voice on any other day, but he was happy to hear his comforting words.

"We'll get her back, Naruto," Shikamaru added. "This whole thing's a drag but we'll find her." Naruto smiled at Shikamaru. Even after all these years, he was still so lazy it was hard to believe he was a shinobi.

"I think that we should travel twice as fast to make up for lost time!" Lee yelled. "No! Three times as fast! We must find Sakura!" Everyone groaned. Unfortunately, Lee hadn't changed either.

All of a sudden, many tiny figures appeared in front of them and began jumping branch to branch with them. It was Kakashi's ninken. Pakkun matched his pace with Kakashi's and began to speak. "Sorry boss. You're not going to want to hear this, but we lost the trail."

Everyone stopped where they were. They gathered around Pakkun. "What do you mean, Pakkun?" Kakashi asked.

"The enemy is really clever. He's trying to buy himself time, I think, because her trail splits up into three paths. We didn't follow them all the way. There's a chance that they all lead to Sakura but some routes are longer than others, but I'm not sure."

Everyone sighed. Yamato looked at Kakashi. "Will we have to…?"

"Yes," Kakashi finished. "We're going to split up into three groups. Two of my ninken will accompany each group. Group one will be Shikamaru, Choji, and Yamato. Group Two will be Neji, Lee, and Sai. The last group will just be Naruto and me. Once we get to where the trails split just follow the ninken. They know where they're going. If you find Sakura, your objective is to have one team member take her away while the other two try to take on the Akatsuki members present. If there are more than two, don't fight. Try to call for backup using these." He handed out wireless headsets to everyone. "The ninken will be able to take you where backup is needed. Is everyone clear?"

The team mumbled a chorus of yes's in response. "Good. Then be careful, and find Sakura. Let's go!"

Naruto picked up his pace a little so he could talk with Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"If Akatsuki is after me and wants us to find them, then why are they splitting up Sakura's trail?"

Kakashi thought for a moment. "Probably because they need more time to prepare. They know you're extremely powerful so they probably have to get prepared to fight you and your team."

Naruto nodded. "They can prepare all they want. We'll still kill them all. There's no chance I'm letting them live after what they did to Sakura."

"Naruto, we will get Sakura back. We will take her home. I have no doubt in my mind that that's what's going to happen. Just focus on being prepared, alright?"

"Yeah."

They traveled in silence for the rest of the time. Once the team had come up to the three parting paths, they quickly reviewed their objective before parting ways. Kakashi and Naruto took the path in the middle, which went north. As Naruto hopped from branch to branch, he thought of the idea that with each branch he passed, he was that much closer to Sakura. And that gave him the small glimmer of hope he needed to keep going for just a little longer.


	3. Chapter 3

First of all, I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG. I had tennis camp, my friend's mom died, I had to work to pay off my huge iTunes bill, and I just didn't have time for this. But here's the chapter!

And OMG OMG OMG. You people are amazing! I've gotten almost 600 hits on this story, 9 reviews, 17 favorites, and 14 alerts! I did NOT expect this many people to read my story in just 2 weeks! Thank you so much!

Also, I would like to let you all know something. I just read a story where the author would write in their intros that they wouldn't post a new chapter unless they got like 40 or 50 reviews for the chapter. I just want to let you know that I will not be doing anything like that. It's unfair to readers who don't have time to review or don't have an account. Your reviews are always appreciated and I get so excited when I get one, but I will never do anything like that. Just letting you know.

I would like to thank sasusaku-fanXD for their nice messages and reviews and comments. I would also like to thank them for a great idea for my story that I will incorporate in the chapters to come. Thanks so much!

J-Pop Princess originally created Fuzen Machi. You won't see it in this chapter but it's coming. I altered it a little to fit my story.

Here's chapter 3! Enjoy!

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"Kunoichi, wake up, yeah."

Sakura stirred and slowly opened her eyes. Deidara was standing next to her, looking down at her. Suddenly, she bolted up. Where were they? What time was it? What day was it?

"Calm down, yeah. You fell asleep a while ago."

Sakura nodded. "Where are we?"

"Ame. We crossed the border about an hour ago. The bird can't fly anymore and it's getting dark, yeah. There's a town nearby. We'll stay there for the night, yeah."

Sakura nodded again. Deidara grabbed her arms from behind her and hoisted her up. He jumped off the bird and she followed suit. He held on to her arm and started dragging her along with him to the town. Sakura felt no other chakra presences nearby. This was her perfect moment to escape! She walked a little faster so she was slightly in front of Deidara. When she was in the perfect position, she hoisted her leg up and was about to kick him square in the chest, but he had been expecting her attack and he grabbed her leg and pushed her to the ground. He leaned over her, put one arm on each side of her head, and put his knee on her stomach, adding enough pressure to it so it hurt. Sakura struggled against him, but her arms were still tied behind her back and he kept pushing his knee harder into her. She gasped in pain and stopped struggling.

Deidara brought his lips to her ear, his long blonde hair resting on her neck. "I'm not stupid, yeah," he murmured. She was bothered by how close he was. Her heart was furiously pounding in her chest. "I'm not that easy to outsmart, kunoichi. You're gonna have to try harder, yeah." His lips oh-so-slightly brushed against her ear when he said the last sentence, and her body felt like it was on fire. Her heart felt like it was going to fall out of her chest, and Inner Sakura was squealing. She slid her eyes to the right, not wanting to turn her whole head (if she did, their lips would probably meet and that was the _last _thing she wanted).

Deidara's eyes met hers, and jade and ocean blue orbs connected. He moved his head so that their eyes were at the same level, their noses only centimeters apart. Inner Sakura was screaming with delight, but Sakura stared blankly into his ocean eyes. The forelock had fallen away from his face, landing in her own hair, leaving her to stare at both of his eyes. His lips slowly curved into smirk, causing blood rush to her cheeks. By this time, Inner Sakura had fainted.

"So," Deidara said. His breath was cool and fresh, which was very unexpected. "You wanna behave this time kunoichi, yeah?"

Sakura kept staring at him. How could she concentrate on her own thoughts when he was this close? She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Deidara chuckled. "How about this, yeah?" His voice was soft and persuasive. "Blink once for yes. Blink twice for no."

Sakura blinked twice.

"Well that's not gonna fly with me, yeah. I wonder what it will take to persuade you…" He leaned in just a little closer, their lips only a millimeter apart, her breath combining with his. Just when she thought he was going to kiss her, he slid his good arm under her and hoisted himself up with her. He picked her up and carried her bridal style. Sakura gasped. "Y-you shouldn't be using your arm…like that. It's going to hurt…"

"Kunoichi, I've felt worse pain in my life, yeah," Deidara said. "How about, when we get to the hotel, I'll let you take the bathroom and shower first?"

Sakura stared at him blankly. Two thoughts went through her head. First of all, they were staying in a _hotel?_ And secondly, he was persuading her with rewards, not torturing her until she gave in. He was the weirdest Akatsuki member she had ever met. "Um, okay?" she finally stuttered.

Deidara smirked. He lowered her to the ground and linked his arm in hers again. They began walking towards the town when Sakura spoke. "Shouldn't you be getting rid of your Akatsuki cloak and everything like the last town?"

He kept staring straight, but he answered her question. "Kunoichi, Akatsuki's in Ame all the time, yeah. It's the most common place-"

"Because your headquarters is here?" she interrupted.

He smirked at her again. "Smart one, aren't you, yeah? Anyways, Akatsuki comes here all the time. The people here are sworn to secrecy about our whereabouts. If they tell, they die. It's happened before and it'll happen again, yeah."

"So if my friends come here and ask if they've seen a pink haired girl traveling with a blonde Akatsuki, they would say no?"

Deidara nodded. "That's how it is, yeah."

"Have you been to this town before?"

He nodded again. "A few times, yeah. This isn't the normal route I take."

Sakura nodded. They walked in silence until they reached the archway leading into the town. She looked at the name of the town and slightly cringed at it. Amaya. Night Rain. At this time, Deidara released the chakra ropes and they walked under the archway.

Sakura was shocked at how industrialized the small town was. There were neon signs, big pipes and wires everywhere, and some people were even using a cell phone. The people didn't look very friendly and everyone was minding their own business. It was so different from the last town they went to. Deidara tugged her to a larger, slightly nicer looking building. That must be the hotel, she thought. He pushed one of the doors open and led her inside.

The lobby was small. It was around the size of the Hokage's office. The walls were a deep shade of purple and the couches were a faded shade of beige. Small plants dotted the room. It looked like they were placed in an attempt to make the room look happier, but it wasn't doing much. There was a big desk at the end of the room where a woman that looked like she was in her mid-thirties was sitting. She took one look at Deidara's Akatsuki cloak and nodded at him. He walked up to her and she gave him a small silver key. "4D," she said. He nodded at her and dragged Sakura through a hallway that led to the elevators. He pushed the button and they waited in silence.

When the elevator arrived, Deidara gently pushed her into the elevator. He pushed the button for the fourth floor. The elevator was old looking and it made a small creaking noise when it went rose. It made a small _ding _when it reached the fourth floor. He tugged her along with him as they made their way down the hallway. There were only about 10 rooms on the floor- five on the right, five on the left. They had turned left. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D.

Deidara slid the key into the lock and turned it. When he opened the door, he sighed. "Shit."

"What?" Sakura asked. He nodded his head towards the room. She noticed that the walls were the same shade of purple as the lobby's. It wasn't small but it wasn't big either. There was a small desk in the corner, and small hallway leading to the bathroom, and a big bureau right in front of the bed. Sakura looked for a little longer and then noticed the problem. "Oh." There was only one bed. "Well, we can always…um…"

"I'm not going to sleep much anyways, yeah," he said. He stuck his hand in his clay pouch and the mouth in his hand began to chew on the clay. In a few moments, the mouth spat out four clay birds. He placed one by the door, one by the window, one by the vent, and one in the bathroom. Sakura stared at them. She knew what they were. They were what bound her to the room. Chakra sensors.

"I'm going to get dinner. I told you that you could take the shower first so you may want to take advantage of that while I'm out, yeah," Deidara said. Before she could say anything back, he turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Sakura walked around the room. It definitely wasn't the nicest place she stayed at, but it definitely wasn't the worst. She walked into the bathroom and began to strip off her clothes. She was glad to see that the hotel provided common toiletries like soap, shampoo, toothbrush, and toothpaste. She stepped into the shower and turned the knob. Hot water started to spray out of the showerhead and onto her dirty and worn body. She lathered her body in soap and washed away all the dirt and debris. Afterwards she shampooed her hair. The hotel didn't provide conditioner, but she could survive without it.

Sakura opened the shower door a little and reached for her clothes. She couldn't completely clean them because they wouldn't be dry in time, but she could at least clean them up a bit. She grabbed her shirt and began to scrub away the dirty spots with the soap. Once that was done, she cleaned her shorts and medic apron. After her clothes were clean, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She shivered as she looked around for a towel. Sakura groaned as she saw where they were- under Deidara's chakra sensor.

There was no way she could get a towel without setting off the chakra sensor. Sakura sighed. She slowly grabbed the bottom towel on the stack and gently pushed it out from the stack. The chakra sensor wobbled and she cursed silently. After a few more seconds at futilely tugging at the towel, she became frustrated and whipped it out from the stack. The chakra sensor toppled over. Who gives a shit? She thought. She began to dry off her body and slipped into her underwear and shorts. She had just fastened her bra when she heard the door to the hotel room open. A second later, Deidara burst through the bathroom door.

Sakura shrieked. "Get _OUT!" _ She tried to cover up her body with the towel nearby but it kept slipping off her body. Deidara tried to avert his eyes but remained in the room.

"You set off the chakra sensor, yeah!" he said.

"I wouldn't have if you didn't put it on top of the fucking towels!" she retorted.

"I wasn't thinking where I put them! I just-"

"_GET OUT!" _Sakura focused chakra in her hands and powerfully shoved him away. He stumbled and fell on the ground. She slammed the door in his face and locked it.

Deidara kept banging on the door, but Sakura wouldn't open it. "It's not like I was trying to escape! I needed to dry myself! Just calm down!"

The banging stopped, but she heard him mumble something including the word "bitch." She smiled to herself and put her shirt on. Since there was no hairbrush, she combed her fingers through her hair and got almost all the tangles out. She brushed her teeth and placed the toothbrush in a cup on the sink after she was finished. She decided not to wear her medic apron to bed, and she folded it and carried it out with her along with her boots as she walked out of the bathroom.

Sakura plopped her boots next to the bureau and placed her apron on top of it. When she turned to the bed she froze. Deidara was laying on the bed face-up, his Akatsuki cloak lying next to him on the bed, but that wasn't what caught her attention. What caught her attention was the fact that there were three little clay birds fly around in circles above his head. She stood there, watching him. The birds began to fly in a spiral motion, circling through the air in synchronized dance. They flew in beautiful patterns, criss-crossing and swooping up and down.

One of the birds flew in Sakura's direction. She cringed a little, knowing that they could be used for bombs, but relaxed when it gently landed on her shoulder. The bird stared at her with its clay eyes and cocked its head. She smiled at it and the other two birds joined the one on her shoulder and began to fly around her. She stared at the little beautiful creatures in awe. When another one landed on her shoulder, she reached out to touch it, but it disappeared with a poof, and so did the others.

"Art's amazing, isn't it, yeah?" She turned to the sound of Deidara's voice. He had gotten up and started walking to the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower. Dinner's on the desk. I already ate, yeah." With that, he shut the door to the bathroom and locked it, leaving Sakura alone in the room.

Sakura walked over to the desk and picked up the little takeout box. Inside was a plastic bowl covered with a lid. She removed the lid, and her heart sank. Ramen. Naruto's favorite. She sadly reached for the chopsticks and began to eat slowly, but began to eat faster after realizing how hungry she was. After the contents of the bowl were completely drained, she was left with a full belly and an empty heart.

Naruto. He was coming for her. She just knew it. So why was she still so upset? She sighed and got up to throw away the takeout box and chopsticks. She still had some time to kill until Deidara got out of the bathroom so she could begin his healing session, so she picked up his Akatsuki cloak and folded it over the chair by the desk. Seeing that there was nothing else to do, she sat down on the bed and waited.

While she sat, Sakura thought about home. Wait a minute, she thought. Deidara was still in the shower. That meant that she could escape right now! She could burst through the window and not worry about him chasing her for a while, since he would have to be wearing at least _some _clothing to chase her in public. Plus his clay pouch would be off, and he wouldn't be armed. The second Sakura began to stand up and make her way to the window, however, the door to the bathroom opened. Sakura groaned and glared at Deidara's shadow, which was all she could see at the moment. When he walked out of the hallway and into the bedroom, her glare melted and was replaced with awe.

Sakura had seen Deidara shirtless before, but seeing him shirtless and _wet _was on a completely different level. If he had looked great then, he looked like a god now. Little droplets of water dripped down his gleaming, firm chest. His long blonde hair was completely down (forelock in place) and was dripping all over the floor. Sakura gulped and stood up, trying not to make eye contact with him. "Um, I need to uh, heal your, um, shoulder," she stuttered. She didn't have to look up to know he was smirking.

"Whatever you say, kunoichi, yeah," he said, and sat down on the bed. Sakura walked to the other side and hopped up from behind him and sat down on her knees. She focused chakra into her hands and the mint green glow appeared. She brought it up to Deidara's shoulder and she felt him relax under his touch. She leaned over his shoulder a little bit to sneak a tiny peek at his rock hard chest. He didn't seem to notice, thinking she was just adjusting herself to get a better view of his shoulder.

Sakura then shook her head and sat back down in her original position. What was she doing? She was trying to catch glimpses of an enemy's chest, for gods' sake! She then realized something. She could kill him now if she wanted to. Just a quick tap on the shoulder and he would be dead. One part of Sakura was dying to bring her fingers to his neck and deliver that fatal blow. But another side of Sakura didn't. In fact, the other side wanted to see Deidara recover from the injury he had suffered. Oh my god, she thought. She didn't want to kill an Akatsuki member. Something was definitely wrong.

She sighed and continued healing his arm. When she was done, she sat back and began to test how well his shoulder had become. She gently pushed her fingers and palms around his shoulder and said, "Just tell me when it begins to hurt." She kept pushing her fingers into his skin, and when he showed no signs of pain, she began to push a little harder. He tensed and said, "Stop, yeah."

Sakura put her hands down in her lap. "You arm's getting better. You can use it a little bit but not too much. You need to keep it rested so you're going to have to sleep on the bed."

"Is that the reason or do you just want to cuddle up next to me, yeah?" he smirked.

She rolled her eyes and stepped off of the bed. "Lie down. You might as well get under the covers too because every time you get up I'm going to have to readjust the pillows under your shoulder."

Deidara did as he was told. She made him sit up while she put two pillows under the area of his shoulder. She fluffed them and instructed him to lie down. He did so and she saw his face relax.

Sakura walked to the other side of the bed and lay down as far as possible from him. She closed her eyes and tried not to think of the man next to her.

"Kunoichi." Sakura turned to the sound of Deidara's voice. "Thank you, yeah. For my shoulder," he murmured.

Sakura stayed still where she was. Did he just _thank _her? That was the last thing she would expect an Akatsuki member to do. "You're welcome," she said, and closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Naruto, Kakashi, and Pakkun had been traveling for hours, jumping branch from branch. Their energy was almost drained and it had become too dark to travel. "Naruto," Kakashi heaved. "Let's stop for the night."

"But Kakashi-sensei! We need to find Sakura!" Naruto protested.

"Naruto, it's dark, and we're tired. We need to rest!"

Naruto groaned but complied. They stopped under a tree and began to roll out their mats and Kakashi started a small fire. Pakkun rolled around in the grass until he found a comfortable spot. Naruto took out a map and spread it out on the ground. Once Kakashi settled down on his mat, Naruto began to point to the map. "So we're somewhere around here," Naruto said, pointing to a southwestern area around the Fire Country border.

Kakashi nodded. "We can assume that Sakura is somewhere around here," he said, pointing to Ame.

"So we're pretty far, aren't we, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi sighed. "Yes. Yes we're very far. We're over a full day's travel behind."

Naruto rubbed his hands into his face. "Damn it," he muttered.

"We should get some rest now," Kakashi said, lying down on his mat. "The sooner we rest, the faster we can get up and pursue Sakura."

Naruto nodded and also lay down on his mat. "I miss her, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi closed his eyes, hoping to hide the pain inside them. "Me too, Naruto. Me too."

It was about 1 in the morning and Deidara was still awake. Sakura was breathing lightly next to him. He was as tired as hell, but he couldn't get to sleep. There was too much on his mind, and it all had to do with the petite pink haired woman next to him. She had had so many chances to escape today. The second he left the room, she could have run off, and he wouldn't have been able to catch her. And then there was the time that he had been in the shower. She could have burst through the window and run away (there would be no way in hell that he would chase her public unclothed) and he wouldn't have been able to pursue her for at least a few minutes, giving her time to run away and figure out which way to go.

And not to mention the chakra sensors. When Deidara put the chakra sensor in the bathroom, he had forgotten what would happen if she set that one off. The sensors had been designed so that if they went off he could see through the clay creature's eyes. So when Sakura had been tugging to get a towel, he had gotten a complete view of her bare body, and had felt a little blood rush to his area down under. He tried to look away, he really did, but there would be no way unless she stopped tugging at the towels, which she did not. He was almost relieved when she knocked the towels over, obstructing his view from her bare figure.

Deidara slid his eyes to the left and caught a glimpse of Sakura. She had turned over in her sleep and was facing him now. Her eyebrows were stitched together in a V, and her expression was as if she was focusing on sleeping. Her pink lips were slightly parted open and looked so soft and delicate. There were small strands of pink hair in her face, and his fingers were itching to brush them away.

Oh my god. What was going on with him? Maybe Tobi was right. He _was _sort of ogling Sakura. But who wouldn't? She was gorgeous. Deidara brought a hand to his forehead and sighed in frustration. What was he doing? He couldn't do this. Not with a hostage. Not with an enemy.

If they were on the same side, though, she was definitely worth a shot. And before he could think of anything else, he drifted to sleep, dreaming of a faceless girl with a flurry of pink hair…

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So sorry this chapter was so short! I had a lot of writer's block on this chapter but it's finally out! I hope you liked it! Please review! Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys! Thanks so much for all of your amazing reviews and support! All of your nice comments really give me more motivation to keep writing! And holy shiz, 2000 hits on this story? That's amazing! Thank you so much!

I've decided that since school is starting that I will not be able to update as frequently for the next week or so. I have a very intense tennis schedule that requires me to practice two times a day and I have a massive project that begins when school starts so I will have that to worry about as well.

I also apologize for the extremely late update. I've been at my tennis practices and I just went to a wedding and my life's been pretty hectic. I've also started watching Bleach and am trying to get caught up to where my friends are while still trying to fully catch up to Naruto (I'm about 15 episodes behind; and after that I still need to read the manga).

J-Pop Princess originally created the setting of Fuzen Machi. I altered it a little to fit my story.

Here's chapter 4! Enjoy!

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It was about seven in the morning when Deidara woke up. He slowly cracked his eyes open and was startled to see Sakura's pink hair inches from his face. Even worse, he had completely _spooned _her in his sleep and his arm was draped around her waist. He quickly snatched his arm away and stumbled out of bed, backing away from her like she was a disease. She was still sleeping, so she probably didn't even know what had happened. He sighed and grabbed his Akatsuki cloak from the chair it was hanging on and slid it over his shoulders. He grabbed his clay and weapons pouches and fastened them on his belt and fastened his cloak. Deidara took one last look at Sakura before he backed away and left the hotel in search of breakfast.

The streets of Amaya were unfriendly and dark. People either looked like they were in a hurry or had no place to go. There weren't many people up at this hour, and most of the stores were closed. Deidara walked around, looking for a good place to eat. He walked a little more and found a small restaurant open and walked inside.

The place wasn't too shabby. It was actually kind of nice. Nobody was in the restaurant, but there was a woman behind the counter. She couldn't have been older than twenty and was so pretty. She wasn't the same type of pretty as Sakura, but more like Manami, the waitress from the last town. Her head snapped up when she heard Deidara walk in. Her skin was pale like everyone else's in Ame, and she had big purple eyes and long bluish black hair. Her purple eyes looked at Deidara from head to toe, taking in his Akatsuki cloak. She looked straight in his eyes and smiled at him in a devious way. _Oh god, _Deidara thought. _Here we go again._ "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Do you have takeout menus?" He asked.

She held up a finger, motioning for him to wait. She disappeared under the counter and reappeared with a takeout menu. "Take your time," she said as she smiled and handed the menu to him.

Deidara looked over the menu for a few moments, feeling the woman's eyes on him. When he had decided what to get for him and Sakura, he handed back the menu and said, "I'll have two of the steamed rice and fish, yeah."

He could see that she was wondering why he was ordering two servings of food, but she didn't question it, knowing not to get involved with Akatsuki. She took the menu back from him and walked through a door behind the counter. He heard her shout his order to whom he assumed was the cook. Within moments, she had reappeared. "It'll be just a moment," she smiled. "You're welcome to take a seat."

"I'm fine," Deidara said curtly.

She nodded and stayed silent for a moment, but not for long. She was pretty gutsy (or just stupid and careless) to be so flirty with an Akatsuki. "You know, I've seen a few of you guys around here and none of them are quite as handsome as you." He turned to her and saw she was twisting a strand of raven hair around her finger and was smirking at him.

He smirked back at her. "I'd have to agree with you there, yeah."

She giggled. "My name's Keiko."

"My name's none of your business, yeah," Deidara said playfully.

"I figured," she said. "You say 'yeah' at the end of your sentences. Can you at least tell me why you say that?"

Deidara chuckled. "It's like a dialect where I'm from, yeah. Like an accent."

"Well I like it. I think it's cute." By this time Keiko had made her way around the counter and now leaned against the opposite side of it, only a few feet away from him.

He raised his eyebrows at her comment. "Really?" He didn't say it like a question. It was more like a flat statement.

She threw her head back and laughed softly. When she rolled her head back up, she looked at Deidara with mischievous eyes. "Really."

Deidara contemplated where this conversation was going. There was obviously no hope for them in the future and it was obvious she threw herself at even the slightest attractive man she saw. But hey, he hadn't had some fun in a while. "Well there are many things _cute _about me, yeah."

Keiko smiled deviously. "I wonder what those are?"

Deidara smirked and leaned in a little closer. "Wouldn't you like to find out?"

She gave another wicked smile and leaned in. Before he could realize what was happening, their lips met and their arms were around each other.

It wasn't a passionate kiss. It was lustful and greedy and empty. Their tongues danced over each other and they nibbled on each other's lips. He didn't like this kiss. He didn't like it at all. It felt wrong and worthless. Keiko slid her arm down his chest. She kept sliding it down until it began to get dangerously near his crotch. She was only centimeters away from his zipper when they heard a bell ring. They broke apart and turned to the origin of the sound. _Thank god, _Deidara thought.

Two small takeout boxes sat on the counter. The cook had obviously seen them and had just snuck in to place the boxes on the counter and leave. Deidara knew that for a fact, he had felt his presence.

"Order up," Keiko whispered, and she giggled. Deidara smirked at her and grabbed the boxes from behind him. "That was fun, mystery man. I'll remember you."

He smirked at her again and walked out of the restaurant, relieved that he wouldn't have to encounter that whore again. He groaned at the constant rain pouring from the sky, wishing Leader would just give them a break from all the bad weather. He didn't have his Akatsuki hat. Sakura had completely crushed it to pieces during their first encounter back at Konoha.

Sakura.

Back at the restaurant, when he was kissing Keiko, he wanted to feel something in that kiss. Anything. But the more he pressed his lips to hers and the more he crushed her against him, the only person he could think about was Sakura.

He angrily ran his free hand through his hair. He hated this feeling. He hated feeling so confused. He hated Sakura for making him feel this confused. How could such an innocent looking person make him feel so fucked up?

Deidara stormed through the rain. He didn't know what to think anymore. So maybe he should stop thinking completely.

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When Deidara got back to the hotel room, he saw that Sakura was still asleep. He checked the clock. It was about eight in the morning. She was a really heavy sleeper. He walked over and plopped the takeout boxes on the desk and nudged her with his knee. She stirred and cracked her eyes open. "Rise and shine, kunoichi, yeah," he said.

Sakura sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

"About eight."

She nodded. "Is that breakfast?" She pointed to the takeout boxes sitting on the desk.

"Yeah. Knock yourself out, yeah." He grabbed one of the boxes and a set of chopsticks and handed it to her. She took it from his hands and their fingers brushed against each other. Sakura blushed and quickly drew her hand away. She opened the box and began to eat. Deidara sat down in the chair across from her and began eating his own breakfast.

They ate in silence, neither of them wanting to start a conversation. When Deidara finished, he threw the box and the chopsticks in the trash and turned to Sakura. "You might want to get ready, yeah. We're gonna leave soon." She nodded and finished her food. When she had thrown away the box, she got up and walked to the bathroom. She shut the door behind her and locked it, as if a little lock could hold back an Akatsuki.

Sakura quickly turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face. She gripped the edge of the counter so tight that she was leaving impressions of her fingers in it. This morning she had woken up at around six thirty and had found Deidara's face nuzzling the back of her neck and his arm draped over her. It had sent Sakura into such shock that she just lay there, not moving, eyes open. When she heard him stir next to her and felt him snatch his hand away, she couldn't help but breathe in a sigh of relief. It was too awkward.

The thing that disturbed her most, though, was that she didn't really mind. It actually was kind of nice in a warped sort of way. It would have been nice if it were any man but him.

Sakura brushed her teeth and tried to make her hair look decent. She grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste just in case the next place they at stayed wasn't as hygienic. She took one last look at herself before she unlocked the door and left the bathroom. Her medic apron was still sitting on top of the bureau and she grabbed it and tied it around her waist, slipping the toothbrush and toothpaste in the pockets. She stepped in her boots and zipped them up. She was ready to go. "I'm ready," she said.

Deidara looked up from his lap. "We'd better get going, yeah. We're behind schedule. Kisame's already at Fuzen Machi, yeah."

"I haven't healed your arm yet," Sakura said suddenly. He looked at her blankly for a moment, but then nodded and took of his Akatsuki cloak and shirt. He sat down on the bed and waited for her. She walked across the room and sat on her knees on the bed behind him. She focused chakra to her hands and the green glow she saw way too often began to emerge from her hands. Slowly, she placed them on Deidara's shoulder and began her work. Even if she was healing an Akatsuki member, she couldn't help but feeling so blissful when she healed somebody. When she closed her eyes, she imagined the little broken pieces of their body and her chakra somehow managing to piece everything back together with such beauty and synchronization that it was almost like a dance. She smiled. She didn't know how she had survived before becoming a medic.

After about a half hour, Sakura began to feel a little tired and decided it was time to call it quits. She stopped the flow of chakra to her hands, and the green glow faded away. She removed her hands from Deidara's shoulder and got off the bed. "Your arm is doing much better. It's only a matter of days before you can use it to its full extent."

Deidara nodded and stood up, putting on his shirt and cloak again. "We're behind schedule even more now, so we should get moving right now, yeah."

Sakura stared at him blankly. She just went out of her way to help heal his arm and she didn't even get a thank you? _Well what do you expect? _Inner Sakura snapped. _He's an _Akatsuki _member for crying out loud. It's not like he's going to buy you a box of chocolates to show his appreciation. _ Sakura nodded, knowing Inner Sakura was right. But still, it wouldn't hurt to show even the slightest bit of appreciation. She turned her attention back to Deidara, who flicked his wrist and made a hand sign that made all the chakra sensors disappear. He motioned to Sakura to leave the room first, and she obliged. She felt Deidara walking a few steps behind her. When they got to the elevators, he grabbed one of her arms and pushed the 'down' button for the elevator.

"I really don't like it when you grab my arm," Sakura stated blankly.

"Too bad, yeah. I can't trust you," he said.

"Well how's grabbing my arm going to stop me? I'm not a genin."

He shrugged. "I guess it's just a way to know where you are, yeah."

Sakura rolled her eyes. All of a sudden, something started shifting against her skin. She squirmed and tried to release herself of the his grip and he smirked. "Stop that!" She finally yelped.

Deidara turned at gave her an innocent look. "Stop what?"

"Your mouth…er…hand…the mouth on your hand! Stop making it move!"

He shrugged and the mouth stopped moving. "The mouth can't move, by the way, yeah."

"What do you mean, it can't _move?_" she spat.

"Technically, it's attached to my hand, yeah, so it's not going anywhere. It was just smiling against your skin," he smirked.

"_Smiling?_" Sakura roared incredulously. "Why would your hand-mouth-thing be _smiling?"_

Deidara shrugged again. "I guess it feels like it, yeah." He lifted his other hand and showed her another mouth, smiling and baring all its teeth. Its tongue slipped out and began to lick its lips. Sakura's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. He smirked. Thankfully, the elevator arrived at that moment and they stepped inside.

It was so awkward to be in that small space with Deidara. Who would have thought that she would have been here today? She closed her eyes and prayed for the elevator to move a little faster. In a few moments, she heard the _ding _noise that meant the elevator had arrived and she let out a sigh of relief and Deidara tugged on her arm and led her out of the elevator. They walked towards the lobby and Sakura saw that the same receptionist from yesterday was still sitting behind the desk, looking bored and tired as hell. Deidara put the keys to the room on the desk and walked out of the hotel, Sakura in tow.

When they stepped outside, it was raining. Deidara groaned. "The rain's not that bad," he heard Sakura mutter in a voice barely audible.

"That's not the problem, yeah. The problem is that we can't use the bird if it's raining!" He groaned again. "Come with me."

Deidara ran through the streets of Amaya, dragging Sakura by the arm (sometimes painfully). He shoved people out of the way as he maneuvered the streets. He ran outside the town and ended up taking her to where they had left the bird. But now, the bird had been reduced to big, wet puddle of clay. "Goddammit," he muttered. "I'll be right back, yeah." While Sakura was processing his comment, he swiftly pinned her against a tree and bound her to it with chakra ropes. She yelped and glared at him.

"This isn't going to stop me, you know," Sakura seethed. "I can rip down this tree in a heartbeat."

Deidara smirked. "I thought you'd say that, yeah." He leaned in closer to her and, with a tap of his finger, drained some of her chakra out. She gasped and slumped a little against the tree.

"You…bastard," Sakura heaved between heavy breaths. How much chakra did he drain?

"Hm. Well I think I drained more chakra than I meant to, but hey, what can you do? Now if you'll excuse me I'll be right back, yeah."

Deidara sat cross-legged on the ground. He made a hand symbol and closed his eyes. Sakura stared at him. "Deidara?" she asked. "Hey, Deidara!" She groaned and leaned against the tree. He was there, but at the same time, he wasn't. What the hell was he doing?

XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Within only a few seconds, Deidara left the rainy field outside Amaya and found himself inside Leader's office in Akatsuki's headquarters. Leader was sitting behind the desk. He looked up at Deidara's holographic form questioningly. "Can I help you?"

"You need to stop the rain, yeah. I can't fly the bird when it's so goddamn wet out there!" Deidara scolded.

Leader stood up and crossed his arms, the Rinnegan burning deep into his own blue eyes. "All you had to do was ask." With a quick hand symbol, Deidara heard the rain stop outside. He nodded in thanks.

"Don't start it up again for about five more hours. We'll be in Fuzen Machi by then, yeah. But don't start it up tomorrow morning either. We're going to travel by bird again, yeah."

Leader shrugged. "Demanding, are we?"

Deidara seethed. "Just don't make it rain until we're out of Ame, yeah."

He nodded. "While you are here, I need to ask you some things."

"About what?"

"The hostage."

"The kunoichi?" Deidara said questioningly.

"Yes. What do you think of her?"

He shrugged. "She's a hostage. What am I supposed to think of her, yeah?"

"Hn," Leader said bluntly. "Do you think she's powerful?"

Deidara struggled for the words to say. "She doesn't really plan things out very well, but she's extremely strong and skilled."

"How strong and skilled?" Leader questioned.

"Strong enough to completely fuck up my shoulder, yeah," he said, tilting his head to his injured arm.

"She's a medic, am I right?"

"Yeah. The Hokage's apprentice. I guess that makes her pretty much the second best medic in the world, yeah."

Leader nodded, taking in all of the information Deidara was giving him. "So her ninjutsu's good?"

Deidara nodded. "She's in the process of healing my arm, yeah."

"She's _healing _it?"

"We made a deal. If she heals my arm, we keep her in one piece, yeah."

Leader chuckled. "You were going to keep her in one piece anyways."

Deidara smirked. "I know. I just really couldn't stand the pain anymore though, yeah."

"Anyways, how valuable do you think the hostage…er…what's her name?"

"Haruno Sakura."

"Yes, Sakura. How valuable is she?"

He shrugged. "It depends, yeah. What value is she to you?"

"Not to me. To Akatsuki."

Deidara's jaw dropped. "You want _her _to become one of _us?" _

"I haven't decided yet. But from what I have read about her and from what you have told me she seems to be a very powerful shinobi. One that could be extremely useful to our organization."

"How could _she _be useful to us?"

"She's a medic, right? Can you imagine how much better off our organization would be if we had a medic? We would all recover faster so we could get more accomplished, and we have a bigger chance of surviving on our missions if she is there to heal us."

Deidara snorted. "We don't need her, yeah."

"Say what you want, but I'm still keeping tabs on her. Speaking of the kunoichi, you might want to get back to her. I think she's getting a little restless."

He grunted angrily but complied. He lifted his right hand and made the hand symbol that brought him back to his own body. When he opened his eyes, he saw two very angry, very demanding vermilion eyes staring at him. _Let's get this shit done_, Deidara thought to himself, and stood up and walked over to Sakura.

XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Sakura had been tied against the tree for about a full five minutes before she saw Deidara's eyes open again. What exactly happened when he closed his eyes and made that hand symbol? It was like his body was here but not his soul. She glared at him angrily as he stood up and walked towards her.

"What the hell was that?" Sakura spat.

"Meeting," Deidara said bluntly.

"With who?"

"Leader. I needed to tell him to stop the rain, yeah."

"How long does it take to tell him to stop the rain?" She barked.

All of a sudden, Deidara lifted his right arm and held it tightly against Sakura's throat. Her eyes widened as he pressed his fingers into her skin. "_Look_, kunoichi. I don't want to hear any of your shit right now, yeah. Just shut up for _one _second! Gods, you are so _annoying._"

Sakura's eyes widened, and then filled with sadness. "Annoying."

Deidara lifted his eyebrows in confusion and lightened his grip on her. He was obviously confused by her reaction, but he didn't understand. He just thought his words were small, petty insults. He didn't understand the meaning of his last word. "Um…you okay, kunoichi?" He finally said.

She nodded slowly. "Yes. It's just that I…annoying." She tried to control herself, but her voice cracked at the last word and she felt her eyes water.

"Hey, kunoichi. Get it together, yeah. What's the big deal?" His voice wasn't compassionate or caring, but it wasn't harsh either.

"Someone…someone I used to know called me that. Annoying. They were his last words to me. I never saw him after that. He was…gone." She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks now. She made no sounds and tried to control herself, but the tears flowed freely as she viciously fought to try to forget that last night…

_Sakura was scouting the area in a tree high above the ground. Her legs ached and she wanted to take a break, but she knew that wasn't an option. Their target was supposed to pass through here at any moment._

_Uchiha Itachi._

_She had been waiting for over an hour now but hadn't seen a thing, but that didn't mean she could give up. Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi were also watching for him, but they were all a mile apart from each other. If anyone saw him, they were to alert the others through their radios and they would close in on the Uchiha since it was obvious they wouldn't be able to take him on alone._

_Sakura heard a rustling sound come from the bushes down below. She crouched down and waited for something to show up. She watched and waited, and saw a figure emerge. She was about to alert the others when she saw what the figure actually was. A deer. The giddiness inside her vanished and was replaced with disappointment. She sighed and continued her watch._

"_Looking for someone?"_

_Sakura's eyes widened when she heard the voice behind her. She knew that voice all too well. It couldn't be…but _how? _She had been on her guard this whole time! She would have sensed it if he came within a kilometer of her! It wasn't possible…it couldn't be…Slowly, she turned her head and stared straight into two crimson eyes. She took in his fair complexion, his spiky black hair, the two blood-red crimson eyes burning into her skull. It was an Uchiha, but it wasn't the right one. It wasn't Itachi._

_It was Sasuke._

"_S-Sas…uke?" She whispered._

_His face remained emotionless, but he nodded at her and said, "Sakura. Long time, no see."_

"_I…I…Why are you here?"_

"_Same reason you are," he said bluntly._

"_Itachi."_

_He nodded._

"_You're still trying to avenge your clan?"_

"_Yes."_

_Sakura nodded slowly, but then looked him straight in the eye and told him what she should have told him years ago. "Why are so goddamn _stupid?_ Let it go, Sasuke! What Itachi did was wrong, and I know he hurt you in ways I can never understand, but for gods' sake, stop this! Do you think killing your brother will make you a better person? What can you possibly accomplish by doing that? It's not going to make you a better or stronger person, and you certainly won't feel any better by doing it! Why won't you open your eyes, Sasuke? You're so blind! If you think that killing your brother will make you strong, you're wrong. If you're truly strong, you'll _walk away._"_

_Sasuke stared at her for about a full twenty seconds before he spoke. "After all these years, you're still extremely annoying." _

_Sakura opened her mouth to scold him again, but before she could speak, he put a hand on her cheek and brought his lips to hers and kissed her. She froze, unsure of what was going on. Was she dreaming? No. This was Sasuke, and those were his lips pressed to hers, and that was his and on her cheek. After a few more seconds he drew his lips back and removed his hand. He smirked._

_Sakura remained staring at him, completely dumbfounded and awestruck. "Sasuke?"_

_Before she could contemplate what was happening, he was suddenly standing behind her. She felt his fingers tap her neck, and her world started to go black, and she slumped into Sasuke's arms, unconscious._

_When she woke up, Sakura found herself surrounded by Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi, asking what had happened. She tried to find the words to say, but instead she felt her eyes water and she burst into tears. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid. Sasuke fooled her a second time, and she blew her one chance to bring him back to Konoha. She sobbed into Naruto's chest as she thought of what had happened earlier, but now Sasuke wasn't here._

_He was gone._

Sakura felt Deidara remove his hand from her neck as she cried softly. From the corner of her eye, she saw him bring his giant bird to life. She felt the chakra ropes fall away from her body, and she fell onto the ground in agony. _Why, Sasuke? Why?_ She felt Deidara's strong arms pick her up and place her on the bird. He didn't put the chakra ropes around her wrists this time. He simply lifted the bird into the air and flew. He said nothing as she cried into her hands. There was nothing to say.

She lay down slowly on the bird, hiccupping between her sobs. Her vision blurred as the tears slowly fell from her eyes. The last thing she remembered seeing was Deidara turning around, giving her a sympathetic look before she closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura slowly cracked her eyes open as she heard the bird land and come to a stop. She raised her head and looked around. They were in a clearing, but it was different from the last one. They must have been near Fuzen Machi.

"Kunochi."

She turned her head and saw Deidara crouched behind her. "You okay?" he asked.

Why should you care? Inner Sakura snapped. But Sakura merely nodded and sat up. "What happened back there, yeah?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just…it was a bad memory," she stuttered. He nodded and stood up and jumped off the bird. She slowly followed suit, but when she jumped off the bird, she lost her footing as she landed and began to fall backwards. She felt her heart skip a beat as she tumbled to the ground, but Deidara quickly appeared behind her and caught her mid-fall. She muttered a "thank you" and he took her arm as they walked to Fuzen Machi.

His grip wasn't as tight as the last times. He probably felt bad for her, which was the last thing she wanted. She didn't need the mercy of anybody, especially and Akatsuki's. They walked in silence, Sakura lost in her angry and sad thoughts. Those thoughts disappeared, however, when she laid eyes on Fuzen Machi.

The city was fairly large, and it had buildings that were over fifteen stories high. Neon lights flashed everywhere. There were tons of blinking lights advertising things like "HOTEL" and "CASINO" and "STRIP BAR". They walked quietly and unnoticed through the streets of Fuzen Machi. The streets were crowded and everybody was either drunk or going somewhere to get drunk. Prostitutes stood on the corners of each street, barely clothed and hungrily eyeing Deidara. They passed a strip bar called "Wet Dreams" and Sakura saw a purple haired girl pole dancing completely naked and tons of men cheering her on. She cringed at the sight. Next to the strip bar was a casino, where there were tons of small machines with blinking lights that dispensed money. Those must be slot machines. Sakura had heard of them back in Konoha but had never seen one until now. There were also tables where men were crowded around and were throwing dice. She giggled. Tsunade would have loved this place. It wouldn't have surprised her if she hadn't visited before.

Deidara tugged her arm and led her into a tall building that must have been the hotel, judging by the giant blinking neon sign that said "HOTEL". They walked into the large lobby. It was furnished with elegant looking couches and tables and a giant chandelier hung from the ceiling. A long mahogany desk was at the end of the lobby. A pretty brunette that looked a lot like Tenten stood behind the desk. Deidara dragged Sakura with him and walked up to the woman and said, "Is he here yet, yeah?"

The Tenten impersonator nodded. "He's waiting in the bar." She reached from below the desk and handed him a small silver key. "6B. It's right across from his."

Deidara nodded at the woman and pulled Sakura with him as they entered the packed bar. Most of the people there were men, but there was the occasional woman (woman wasn't a good word. The better term would have been prostitute.). In the corner of the busy bar, she saw the familiar cloud-patterned cloth she had seen one too many times. Deidara must have noticed it too because he was walking towards the blue-skinned man in the Akatsuki cloak.

"Hey, bastard," Deidara greeted.

Kisame turned around and gave a smile that bared his shark-like teeth. "Well if it isn't Deidara-senpai," he mocked. "Take a seat, man. And is this the little princess you managed to snatch along the way?" He lifted the drink in his hand towards Sakura, who was trying to hide herself behind Deidara.

"Yeah," Deidara said. "This is Haruno Sakura. _Medical nin _of Konoha."

"A medic?" Kisame said. "That's certainly rare around here, princess."

Sakura nodded and kept her head down. Normally she would have been insulting Kisame to no end, but she just didn't have the heart after her breakdown earlier. "Well what are you waiting for?" Kisame roared. "Sit your asses down!"

Deidara smirked and sat down on one of the stools, leaving the stool between him and Kisame open. Inner Sakura was cursing at Deidara for picking that seat, but Sakura just quietly sat down. She could tell that Kisame was starting to get a little drunk from the smell of his breath and the glaze in his eyes.

"So what's the progress report?" Deidara asked Kisame.

"Well we're going to stay here another night after tonight. Then we're planning on flying out of Ame and landing in a town in Iwa-" Deidara slightly winced at the mention of his homeland, but said nothing-"where we're going to stay for about two or three days. After that we're going to start our flight to Kumo. Kumo's well aware of the crimes we've committed to its village in the past so we're going to stay outside of the shinobi village and in a very small and minor part of the country, where Leader's set up our base. We're going to wait there and Hidan and Zetsu will come for backup once the Konoha shinobi arrive. That's when we try to capture the jinchuuriki and try to kill as many of the men as possible."

"Start with that Kakashi, yeah" Deidara mumbled. "I'm going to kick his ass for what he did to my arm."

Kisame chuckled. "You were always one to hold grudges. How about you, princess?"

Sakura looked up from her lap. She had been taking in all of the information Kisame had said and was taking it to memory. Now she looked up at him questioningly, wondering what his comment meant. "Excuse me?" she said softly.

"Hm, nothing. Hey!" Kisame waved his hand to the bartender. The man slowly walked over to him, obviously intimidated by the two Akatsuki members sitting at the counter. "Get my friend here the same thing I had and then get the little princess here one of those fruity girly drinks." The bartender nodded and walked away, going to prepare their drinks.

"I'm not thirsty," Sakura said.

"Oh, come on, princess! You're telling me your refusing a free drink?"

"I'm fine, really," she said softly.

Kisame shrugged. "Deidara, you're pretty damn quiet down there."

Deidara looked at Kisame. "Not much to say, yeah."

"How's Deidara been treating you, princess?" he said, turning his attention back to Sakura.

She shrugged. "I wasn't aware there was an option for how to treat a hostage."

Kisame laughed. "Alright. So how've _you _been treating _him?_"

"I cracked his shoulder blade, dislocated the joint in his shoulder, and shattered his upper arm."

Kisame roared in laughter. "You've got to be kidding me! Damn, Deidara! You must be getting pretty rusty if this little pink haired kunoichi beat you up like that!"

Deidara glared at him. "You want to spar with her? Tell me how that goes, yeah."

"She's really that strong?" he inquired.

To prove that theory, Sakura gripped the granite counter top and broke off a piece using only one hand. She held out the chunk of granite to Kisame and closed her fingers around it. When she opened her hand, nothing was left but sand that sifted through her fingers. Kisame's eyebrows went up in amusement. "You're quite skilled, aren't you princess?"

"I am the Hokage's apprentice."

"Well then you really are quite something."

At that moment, the bartender showed up and set Deidara's and Sakura's drinks in front of them. "Hey, get me another round, buddy!" Kisame said. The bartender nodded and disappeared behind the counter.

Sakura peered at her drink. It was in a tall glass and was a light shade of pink. Of course. She tentatively picked it up and took a sip. She winced. It was extremely fruity, but it was also extremely strong. It was just what she needed. She took another sip. She looked over at Deidara, who was taking a long swig of his drink. He put the bottle on the table and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. They obviously didn't teach manners in Akatsuki.

"How do you like it, princess?" Kisame asked.

Sakura took another sip of her drink and said, "It's good."

"Good," he said. "Hey! Bartender! What time is it?"

The bartender walked towards them nervously and checked his watch. "Um, it's…11:50."

"Damn! Where did the time go, huh? I've been sitting here since eight!"

Deidara's eyes widened. "How many drinks did you have, yeah?"

For the first time, Kisame lifted his right arm, which had remained in the same position the entire time they had been talking. Behind his arm had been probably a dozen empty glasses. Sakura gasped.

"What the hell, Kisame? You've been sitting here getting drunk all this time, yeah?"

Kisame hiccupped. "Pretty much."

"Dumbass."

"Hey! Don't use that language in front of the princess!"

Sakura scowled at Kisame. "Don't call me that."

"Honestly, Kisame. Can't you take this mission a little more seriously, yeah? Come on."

"Don't spoil the fun, Deidara! You know, it's weird. You're always so laid back and pretty much the party animal of Akatsuki, but you pick this night of all nights to get serious."

"I'm not in a good mood, yeah," he muttered.

Kisame hiccupped again. "You know," Sakura said slowly, "if you have too much to drink and your body doesn't burn the alcohol fast enough, you could suffer from alcohol poisoning and could die."

"Well then it's a good thing you're here, princess."

Sakura crossed her arms. "I never said I was going to do anything about it."

Deidara chuckled from behind her. She gave a small smile in his direction. He seemed surprised by her smile, but he gave a small smile in return. It wasn't exactly a smile, it was more like a shadow of a smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. "Oh, you bitch," Kisame said halfheartedly. Sakura couldn't help but giggle. Kisame was known to be ruthless, killing everyone in sight, yet here he was, drunk and making jokes.

"I think it's time to head up yeah," Deidara said. Sakura nodded. "Could you help me bring him up? You know, since you're insanely strong." He rolled his head to where a chunk of the counter was missing. She nodded slowly. Deidara grabbed one side of Kisame and Sakura grabbed the other. He was extremely heavy. Sakura struggled as she tried to bring the seven-foot tall man-shark to the elevator. Deidara pushed the button and they waited for the elevator to arrive.

"You know," Kisame hiccupped, "I can walk myself to the elevator. I don't need your help, princess."

"Okay, then," Sakura said, and she let go of Kisame. He stumbled and tried to regain his balance. Deidara also released his grip from him.

"See?" Kisame said, still trying to regain his composure. "I'm fine."

Deidara rolled his eyes. The elevator arrived, and he and Sakura walked inside. When they turned to see where Kisame was, they saw him walking off in the opposite direction. "Oi! Kisame! The elevator's this way, yeah!" Deidara shouted. Sakura did her best to not laugh at the stumbling Kisame, trying to find his way to the elevator. When he finally stepped in, she felt the elevator slightly give in from his weight. Gods, this guy is massive, she thought.

Deidara pushed the button for the sixth floor, and the elevator began to rise. "So princess, how old are you?" Kisame slurred.

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "Twenty-one…" she said cautiously.

Kisame laughed. "Damn, you're young. That's not gonna work. Deidara's in your age range, though. He's…twenty-five?"

"Twenty-four," Deidara mumbled.

"Close enough! You two can have at each other. There's not much of an age difference! I'd take you myself but even I think that our age difference is a little too high. She's all your, Deidara," Kisame slurred.

Sakura's eyes widened and her cheeks burned and turned twenty shades pinker than her hair. Deidara coughed and turned away, trying to hide his own furiously blushing skin. Just then, the doors to the elevator opened to the sixth floor. "Thank gods," Deidara breathed and he walked out of the elevator and Sakura followed. Kisame, on the other hand, had a harder time walking out. He stumbled and tried to find the right way out. After what seemed like an eternity, he strode out of the elevator, leaning left and right. Deidara shook his head.

"This way," Deidara said. He began to walk to the right, but Kisame was going in the other direction. "Kisame, you dumbass! This way, yeah! Behind you!" Kisame turned and widened his eyes when he saw Deidara and Sakura going in that direction.

"Well what do you know," Kisame said. "I'm going in the wrong direction…" He stumbled and tried to walk behind them, but he lost his footing sometimes and almost fell, but he somehow was able to catch himself. They walked down the hall in silence until they reached their rooms, which were right across from each other.

"Kisame, this is your room, yeah," Deidara said, sounding exhausted.

Kisame pulled out his room key and peered at the door to his room. "What the hell? Why are there _two _doorknobs?"

That was the last straw for Deidara. He snatched the room key out of Kisame's hands and inserted it into the only doorknob. He turned the key and the door sprung open. He handed the key back to Kisame and shoved him in the room. "Good _night, _Kisame," he snapped, and shut the door. They heard Kisame mutter some incoherent words but he made no move to open the door again.

"Finally," Deidara sighed, and he opened the door to their own room. He walked in, but Sakura stayed outside. "Well come on, yeah."

"Aren't you sharing a room with Kisame?" She asked.

"Hell no. Someone has to watch you, yeah. You didn't think we'd just let you have your own room, did you?"

She shrugged and slowly walked inside. The room was nicer than the last hotel they stayed at. The floors and walls were clean and free of any dirt or cracks. There was a giant bed at the end of the room that looked extremely soft and luxurious. The bed sheets were a deep shade of red and they were thick and fluffy. There was a bureau across the bed that was made from polished wood, and there was even a television on it! Television was a rarity back in Konoha. No one really had time to watch it. There was a long desk made from the same wood as the bureau sitting in the corner of the room, right next to the large window. On the left was a door that led to the bathroom, which had shiny polished black granite countertops like the bar's downstairs. From what she could tell, this room kicked their old room's ass.

Deidara walked deeper into the room and kicked off his shoes and threw off his Akatsuki cloak; it landed on the television. He leaped onto the bed and sank into the covers like he was a little kid. A big smile spread across his face. "This is nice, yeah." All of a sudden, he bolted up. "Almost forgot," he said. He slipped his hand into his clay pouch and a few seconds later the familiar birds emerged from his hand. He tossed them into the air and they flew into their positions to keep Sakura bound to the room. She sighed, and proceeded to take off her boots and apron.

"I need to heal your shoulder," Sakura said.

"I haven't forgotten, yeah," Deidara said in response. She walked over to him and sat behind him on the bed. Wow, she thought. He was right. This bed _is _nice. She focused chakra to her hands and her hands became surrounded by the signature green glow. She lifted them and gently placed them on his shoulder, slowly repairing the damage she had caused.

Her day had been rough, and she was extremely tired, so their healing session was much shorter than usual because her chakra ran out unusually fast. "That's all I can do today. Right now the best I can do for you is adjust the pillows so you can sleep comfortably."

Deidara nodded and slipped himself under the covers. Sakura adjusted the pillows beneath him in a way that would support his shoulder. "Lay down and see how that is," she instructed. He did and she saw his face relax.

"That's good, yeah," he murmured. She nodded and walked off into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Sakura had saved the toothbrush from the last hotel and it was a good thing she did because this hotel only provided toothpaste. She squeezed a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on the toothbrush and began to scrub away at her teeth. She was so _tired. _The day had been so eventful and emotional that her body had been worn away from the stress. She closed her eyes as she brushed her teeth, and she fought to stay awake. After she finished all her other nightly routines, she stepped out of the bathroom and walked towards the bed where Deidara was laying with his eyes shut. He probably wasn't asleep yet.

Sakura hesitantly pulled the covers back and climbed into the opposite side of the bed. She laid down as far as possible from him so she could avoid waking up with his arms draped over her. She closed her eyes, trying to fight the bad images out of her brain that she had remembered today, but she felt silent tears fall down her cheeks anyways. And for the second time that day, she cried herself to sleep.

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Deidara sat in bed, his mind filled with thoughts. It was almost one in the morning, but he wasn't able to sleep. He had too much on his mind. He thought of what had happened earlier today, when Sakura had started to sob while tied to the tree. He didn't know what had gone through her head, but he was sure it had something to do with that Uchiha. Sasuke.

Deidara knew about Sakura's infatuation with Sasuke. He didn't exactly remember where he learned about it, but he definitely knew. Whatever he said must have sparked a memory with Sasuke for her and that sent her into an emotional breakdown. Which was why she was still softly crying into her pillow.

And then there was what Leader said. Sakura possibly being the next Akatsuki member. The thought of it gave him chills. There was no way Sakura would ever agree to become part of Akatsuki, and even by force, she still would never truly be a part of it. She was so innocent, so fragile. Akatsuki wasn't the place for her.

Deidara sighed and tried to fall asleep. After a few minutes, he began to drift off. However, he woke up with a start a little later after having a terrible nightmare. He had dreamt that there was someone who was killing everyone in sight. He couldn't see the person; they were only a faint silhouette. Every man who approached this person was cut down immediately. There was no hope. He saw all the members of Akatsuki come towards this person with all their strength, only to be killed with the snap of a wrist. Zetsu, Kisame, Tobi, Konan, even Leader was struck down. Then Konoha shinobi started charging towards the figure, but they were killed as well. Kakashi, the jinchuuriki, and some other people he didn't recognize.

Deidara watched in fear as the person mercilessly killed everyone. All of a sudden, the figure turned and started walking towards him. He tried to run, but his feet were glued to the ground. He struggled but the person only came closer and closer. After a few steps, he could make out that the person was wearing an Akatsuki cloak. _It's one of us? _He thought. He tried to see the person's face, but they were still too far.

The figure came closer and closer, and when it came close enough, Deidara's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. The person was a girl, and she had bubblegum pink hair and emerald green eyes. She smiled as she stood before him. Haruno Sakura leaned towards him and tapped his fingers against his neck, and then the whole world went black.

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Again, I apologize for the extremely late update, but this chapter was extra long to make up for it!

I will try to update on a regular basis again, but school has started now and I don't know if I will be able to…

Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! I'd love some review *poke, poke*, *wink, wink*. Favorite this story for drunk Kisame :D


	5. UPDATE

UPDATE ON 6 FEET UNDER THE STARS.

NO I AM NOT DEAD AND I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THIS STORY. I HAVE EVERY INTENTION OF FINISHING THIS STORY AND I PROMISE EVERYONE THAT THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UP BEFORE FRIDAY. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW SORRY I AM FOR NEGLECTING THIS STORY, BUT MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION WAS TO WRITE A MINIMUM OF A CHAPTER A MONTH SO I WON'T LET YOU GUYS DOWN, I PROMISE!

I LOVE ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE STILL STAYED WITH ME AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PATIENCE :). YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO ME.

LOVE,

TIFFANY


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